Further and Forward
by petthekat
Summary: An overbearing boss, a new rabbit on the force, judgmental strangers, and, of course, a series of violent murders. Because you know, thought Nick, why make things easy? [rated M for later chapters]
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: Okay, so I really wanted to wait until my other stories were done, but I couldn't help myself. Official summary for the story below, but be warned: Anyone who reads my other stories knows they often start out quite fluffy and get progressively darker. This story will be no exception. **It is rated M for Mature.** I'll try to give more specific warnings at the beginning of the chapters, but just so you know, the first few chapters will be very mild compared to the later ones.

Summary: An overbearing boss, a new rabbit on the force, judgmental strangers, and, of course, a series of violent murders. Because you know, thought Nick, why make things easy?

* * *

Well, thought Judy. This was a pickle.

Okay, so not a literal pickle. But it was definitely a problem, because the very expensive, very large police car she'd been entrusted with six months ago was very suddenly not working, and despite her best staring, nothing about the complicated engine jumped out at her as _broken._

Plus, it was pouring rain.

Her shift had ended fifteen minutes ago, but she'd made every effort to fix the car herself, with no luck. She'd worked on the old truck back home a million times, but that engine was held together with duct tape and dreams. This one looked like it belonged in a spaceship. Shivering against the cold rain, Judy groaned and clambered back into the car, where she took her radio and called to the station.

"Gonna be at least thirty minutes," said the gruff voice on the other end.

"Oh, uh," Judy dragged a hand down her face. "Okay, well. Thanks." The radio dropped to the empty passenger seat with a thump, and for a moment, Judy simply sat, cold and wet. Then she jumped back out, splashing in a puddle that nearly drowned her and moved to the engine again.

"I'm going to fix this!" she told herself, before awkwardly poking something in the engine. It hissed at her. "Orrrr, maybe not."

"Hey there, Carrots," said another voice to the side, and Judy whirled on her spot, only to put her hands on her hips when she spotted a smirking fox standing next to her, extending an umbrella over her head. "Tell me," Nick Wilde leaned against the car, which smoked ominously. "Do you even know how cars work?"

"How did you know where I was?" Judy tucked closer under the umbrella, looking up at her partner. "Bogo had you work with Morris today while his partner is out."

"Doesn't mean I can't use a radio," Nick pointed out, waving his own. "I was close by. My apartment is just right over there." He pointed a block over. "Come on, no point in waiting out here for those mechanic guys to get here."

Judy glanced uncertainly at the waiting car, but comfort at last won out, and she radioed in to let them know she was ending her shift. Together, Nick and Judy tucked close under the umbrella and splashed through the streets until they came to a tall apartment building downtown. Judy had seen the building before, but she'd never been inside, though she and Nick occasionally stopped by there to grab something.

"I'll just dry off and head back to my place," she told him, shivering violently as they entered the building. Nick fished around in his pockets for his keys and shrugged.

"No rush. Your place has probably already been struck by lightning and disintegrated. Which, I gotta say," he pushed open his apartment door, "would probably be doing the world a favor. Your neighbors are crazy."

"Oh, they're not that bad."

Nick closed the door behind her and raised a brow. "Even the new ones? The llamas with the weird hats? Yeah, pretty sure they killed a guy." Judy rolled her eyes. "I'm serious, Judy," he went on. "I heard one of them say he had a hunger only hands could satisfy. Seemed a little odd."

Giggling, Judy stepped away from the door and looked around. She'd always been secretly curious about Nick's apartment, but now that she saw it, it was pretty much how she'd imagined it. Larger than hers and more up to date, though nothing extravagant by any means, with only three pieces of visible furniture – a couch, a TV and a small coffee table - and absolutely nothing on the walls.

"I should get the name of your decorator," she teased. "Such art. Such finesse."

"I'm a simple guy," he informed her, "Also furniture is heavy." He disappeared after that, presumably to the bedroom and reappeared a moment later. "If you want to change, I laid out some clothes for you on the bed." He handed her a towel, which Judy immediately tucked around her body. The edges dragged to the floor.

"Are these clothes you left me clean?" she asked, smirking.

Nick flourished his hands grandly. " _Top_ of the pile, madam. Nothing but the best for you." The two exchanged grins before Judy moved past him, ducking into the bedroom, where only a bedside table lamp illuminated the room. Thunder clapped outside and the rain poured harder than ever. _Eugh_ , thought Judy. She did not want to go back out into that.

Turning back to the bed, which, again, was only one of maybe three furniture items in the room, Judy pulled off her sodden uniform and dried herself with the towel furiously, which unfortunately meant that now she looked like a giant grey cotton ball. Huffing with frustration, she turned to the clothes Nick had left her.

"Oh, you wily little fox," she muttered, holding up the shirt.

Five minutes later, Judy re-entered the living area, which crossed into the open kitchen, where Nick stood at the island counter with some mail in his hand. Judy stopped in front of him and tried not to laugh.

"Nick, why do you even own this shirt?" she gestured to the too large t-shirt, the front of which bore the word FOXXXY in bold, neon print.

Nick looked up and smirked. "A better question is, why _wouldn't_ I own that shirt?"

At Judy's eyeroll, he rounded the counter and picked up two movie cases. "Now, since you and I are both off work tomorrow and it's still pouring rain, I suggest we watch a movie."

"Oh, really?" Judy asked, folding her arms.

"Yep, look, I have two movies here," he held up the first. " _Finding Nemo_ – something about a fish who loses his son, based on a true story, very sad – and my personal favorite, _Robin Hood!"_ Judy peered at the Robin Hood cover.

"I've never seen that. It looks old."

Nick clutched the movie to his chest. "It is _not_ old, it came out when I was a kid, thank you very much. Also, that is irrelevant, because this is a masterpiece and masterpieces are timeless." He pointed to the cover. "See that? A fox who steals from the rich and gives to the poor? Judy, this guy was my hero."

He tapped the case. "I'm serious. My idol. And look, a very inclusive cast! There's even a bunny!" Judy squinted at the cover. "Well, he's in there somewhere," Nick waved a hand dismissively. "But anyway, this movie is great."

Unable to resist his enthusiasm, Judy bit back a smile and nodded. "Fine," she agreed, more than a little happy to stay and not return to her tiny room. "I guess I can stay for a little while." Something occurred to her. "Oh! But we have to wait a few minutes. I need to call my parents." Nick dropped the movies to the side.

"Good, because I need to change clothes, too," he said, already pulling at the various layers of the police uniform while Judy moved off and fell onto his couch, her phone in hand. A moment later, the faces of her parents appeared on the screen, their evening much less stormy than the one in Zootopia.

"Hi guys!" Judy beamed. "Just checking in. How's everyone?"

"What're you wearing?" asked her father, peering closely to the phone, so that only his eyeball was visible. "And where are you at? Doesn't look like your place to me!"

"Oh, I'm just – visiting," Judy said off-handedly, shrugging her small shoulders. "Being social, like you guys told me!" Unfortunately, she chose that moment to look to her left. "Oh, god, Nick! _Where are your pants_?" she shrieked, covering up her face.

"Relax, I have on shorts."

"Boxers aren't shorts!"

Judy split her fingers to peer at her phone screen. "This is not what it looks like," she groaned to her parents, but Nick suddenly appeared in the screen right next to her.

"This is _exactly_ what it looks like."

Judy shoved him out of the screen. "Don't worry, sweetie!" piped up her mom. "No judgment from us!"

"Well," said her dad. "Maybe a little judgment." His wife pinched him. "Ow! What? I'm just saying!"

"Leave her alone! Let her live her life!"

"What about grandbabies, huh?" countered her father. "Rabbit plus fox does not a rabbit make," he nodded confidently. "Remember that, Judy."

 _Oh my god._

"Yeah, I think I'm losing my signal, gotta go, love you! Bye!" _Click_. Judy slumped against the couch, and when Nick reappeared wearing a t-shirt and (real) shorts, she turned her glare in his direction, to which he responded with an innocent smile.

"Rabbit plus fox does not a rabbit make, Judy," he told her matter of factly, barely dodging a decorative pillow before he skipped around the couch and fell into the opposite corner, smirking. "Movie time?" He grabbed up the remote and turned on the video player. Reaching behind him, he tugged down a blanket from the back of the couch and handed it to Judy, who accepted it with only a little leftover glaring.

"Ooh, fluffy," she wrapped it securely around herself and reveled in the warmth.

Nick's lips quirked at the sight of her all curled up in the blanket, but for once, he said nothing. The movie began to play and, although it actually was very good, as Nick had promised, Judy felt her eyelids grow heavy within the first fifteen minutes.

"Mm'fraid I'm gonna fall asleep," she mumbled to Nick, who was stretched out next to her. He glanced down the length of the couch.

"You're welcome to stay here," he told her, looking back at the movie. "You're off work tomorrow. It'll be fine." He shrugged, the uncharacteristic motion betraying the casualness of his tone. "You know, if you want."

Judy cracked open an eye and looked at him, but he was very pointedly focused on the screen. Smiling a bit to herself, Judy edged closer and leaned her cocooned form against his upraised knees. In response, he lowered them a little, stretching out his legs enough to make it comfortable for her.

She tried to watch the rest of the movie – she really did – but the last few weeks had been exhausting and it all caught up to her warm, snuggly form in an instant. The movie faded away, and the last thing she remembered was the heroic fox Robin Hood, kissing the hand of the beautiful Maid Marian.

* * *

 _Mm, cozy._

A flip switched in Judy's brain. Her bed was not cozy. It was hard as a rock, and squeaky, and felt like it had been stuffed with barbwire. Plus, it was always cold in her apartment.

She opened her eyes. For a moment, the bright early morning light coming through the window confused her, as well as pretty much everything else about her surroundings. But then she remembered – Oh, right. Nick's apartment. The movie. Sleep.

And now, as she tried to shift into an upright position, she realized she was completely and thoroughly entangled in a blanket, her overly large t-shirt, and also Nick.

And his tail.

Squeaking quietly, Judy eased herself back against him, praying he wouldn't wake up. Somehow, in the course of the night, she'd gone from her end of the couch to sleeping against him, encircled in his arms, cheek against the crook of his shoulder and his arm loose against her torso. Even his long tail was wrapped around her, though it was hidden under the blanket he'd given her last night.

After a few moments of inward panic, Judy let herself slowly, slowly relax. This wasn't so bad. Okay, so it wasn't bad at all. In fact, as she let her head nuzzle into his front again, she realized she hadn't woken up feeling so content and comfortable in a very long time. A flush jumped up her neck under her fur.

 _Stop being so silly,_ she scolded herself.

Settling comfortably against Nick again, Judy thought about dozing off once more, but instead became distracted by the tufts of red, black and white fur that lay visible around the neck of his soft white shirt. What interesting colors, she thought. So different from a rabbit's.

Almost against her will, she reached up a hand and traced the colors, brushing against the fur thoughtfully.

"What're you doing, Carrots?"

Judy's hand froze at the sound of Nick's quiet, sleepy voice, and when she looked up at him, his lips quirked at a gentle smile. "I…" Judy reached for the blanket, slowly pulling it up over her embarrassed face. "… am burrowing." Her head disappeared beneath the blanket and Nick felt her bury it into his side, as if further concealment was necessary.

He chuckled, reaching down and tugging the blanket back off her head, so that her large lavender eyes lifted to his. "You're not very good at it," he told her tenderly. Judy let some of her uncertainty fade away when she realized Nick didn't seem at all bothered by waking up on the couch with her.

Pulling up her arms, she rested her chin on them and peered up at his face with a shy smile.

"Sorry for falling asleep on you," she told him.

"I think I'll live."

"Well," said Judy, grinning a bit. "I won't, unless I get some food. What do you have to eat?"

Nick scoffed. "Yeah, right. Like I have actual food in my house." At Judy's dubious look, he raised a brow. "Hey, I live alone. Why would I cook? Also, lazy." He pointed to himself. "But," he went on, one hand brushing Judy's long ear away from her face in a surprisingly tender motion, "There is a breakfast café a block over. We can walk there."

A pleased smile lit up Judy's features. "Okay," she agreed. "But – wait, no. I am not going out in public in this shirt!"

"Well, that's a shame, because every piece of clothing I find for you will only be more and more embarrassing," he told her smugly. "Guess you'll just have to deal."

Judy cut her purple eyes at him and then shifted, untangling herself from the couch rather gracelessly and tossing the blanket in his face before she hopped off the couch and left him behind. "You're terrible," she told him over her shoulder, though the motion didn't completely disguise her smile.

Snickering, Nick fell back against the couch and relaxed. "You know you love me," he muttered to the ceiling.

* * *

"Try it!"

"No."

"Please?"

"Judy," Nick turned his bemused expression in the direction of the rabbit across the small round table. "If you make me try one more carrot – cake or pie or whatever the hell that is – "

"Okay, first of all," Judy bit back a smile. "This is not _just_ carrots. It's a banana-carrot-spinach quiche, and second of all," she happily spooned some into her mouth and swallowed. "It is delicious."

Nick sipped at his coffee. "What a weird thing to get for breakfast," he noted, though Judy's happy squeal with her food made him decide that he was glad the café offered it. Reclining in his chair, Nick took in the scene around them. As hellish as the weather had been last night, the morning had dawned beautiful and warm. Sunlight baked away the last droplets of moisture from the grass and a light breeze kept the air from feeling too damp and stagnant.

Enjoyable and pleasant, thought Nick with an uncharacteristic bit of optimism. Though that might have had something to do with his company, and how he'd woken up right next to her.

"Why aren't you eating?"

He glanced up at Judy's question and waved his coffee. "This is my breakfast," he informed her. At her suspicious look, he secretly reevaluated what he'd said. "What? What's the look for?"

Judy sipped at her orange juice. "Nick, we've been partners for six months and you almost never eat in front of me."

"That's not true," he pointed out. "What about when I stole Clawhauser's candy last week? I ate _all_ of that right in front of you. Almost choked and died. Remember?"

That knowing look he'd once feared passed over Judy's face. She leaned forward and said earnestly, "It's okay for you to eat meat in front of me, you know. There _were_ meat eaters where I lived."

Nick sipped his drink again, watching her carefully over the top of it. No amount of denial would appease her, he knew. "You're not going to make me uncomfortable," she went on firmly. "Eat." She shoo'ed at him, and at last, Nick set down his drink.

"You sure?"

"I promise," she said, reaching across under the table and squeezing his hand. Nick glanced down and curled his fingers around hers in response. "But thank you," she murmured. They shared an appreciative look for a moment before Judy pulled back. "Now go! Eat!"

Chuckling, Nick stood up and set down his coffee. "Thank god, because I am starving."

He got himself a bug biscuit, gulped it down – not because of Judy, but because he really was that hungry – and refilled his coffee before they prepared to leave. "Just one bite!" Judy held up the last bit of her quiche, fork extended to him. Rolling his eyes, Nick finally let her feed it into his mouth.

"Wow," he said with his eyes wide. "This is delicious!"

"Really?" squeaked Judy.

"No," he deadpanned. "I'll leave this stuff to the bunnies." He managed to swallow, but did so with a wildly exaggerated grimace, which made Judy sock him in the arm. They both laughed as they left the café and onto the sidewalks of downtown.

Judy noticed Nick looking at her carefully. "What?" she asked curiously. Nick paused on the sidewalk, and in that moment, he seemed to make up his mind about something.

"Come on," he said. "I'm taking you somewhere."

"What? Where?"

"Not telling."

They hurried to catch a bus and rode to the other side of town, where they got off on a street Judy had never been to before. After crossing a few more blocks, Nick turned and led her down the sidewalk until they came to a tall gate guarding a community of what appeared to be apartments.

Judy looked all around, distracted by the new environment, but Nick waltzed in without a second glance. At the gate, an old sheep lady sat behind an enclosed neck. "Nicholas!" she exclaimed happily as soon as she saw him.

"Hey there, Francine," he said, picking up a clipboard and scrawling his name on it. "Here, sign this," he said, handing it to Judy, who dutifully wrote her name on the next line.

"What is this place?" she asked, but Nick simply motioned for her to follow.

"Morning, Mr. Wilde," said the buffalo guard at the gate, and Nick tipped his head to him. "You're here awful early today."

"Got an early start," said Nick. "Think she's up, yet?"

"Saw her heading to the salon earlier this morning," the buffalo chuckled. "Probably in the gardens by now."

Nick thanked him and they kept walking, Judy hurrying behind him to keep up, because sometimes Nick's longer legs threatened to outdo her. "This place is so nice," she said, looking all around once they were within the walls. The apartments seemed pleasant and well-maintained from the outside, but the real visual interest was the massive garden area in the center of it all. A small but artfully landscaped pond sat in the far left corner, and further beyond that was an opening that seemed to lead to a golf course.

The bottom row of the apartment buildings, Judy now noticed, was also mostly stores and boutiques, giving the gated area the appearance of a little self-contained town right within Zootopia.

Nick looked all around, but he only stopped when someone called out his name.

"Nick!" The fox and rabbit pair both turned in the direction of the voice, only to see an elderly vixen in a wheelchair. "What're you doing here so early?"

"Why does everyone keep saying that?" asked Nick, opening his arms to her for a hug. "Am I not allowed to wake up before 9 AM?" The two embraced and Nick pulled back, smiling one of his few real smiles. He looked back at the timidly waiting rabbit.

"Judy, this is my mother, Ella Wilde."

Judy's eyes widened, her lips parting in surprise. "Oh!" she exclaimed. "Wow, it's so nice to meet you! I'm – "

"Judy Hopps!" The elderly fox hurried forward in her wheelchair and grasped Judy's hand, beaming up at her with a face so like Nick's. "It's so delightful to finally meet you! Nick has told me so much about how brilliant you are!"

"She's lying," Nick said to the side. "She's just seen you on the news."

"And," his mother went on emphatically, "He also told me how pretty you are."

"A _pathological liar_ ," added Nick hastily, before Ella thumped his arm and he yelped, hopping back. Judy giggled, thoroughly enjoying Ella already.

"It's so nice to meet you, Mrs. Wilde," she said earnestly, before she glanced down at herself and flushed. "Oh, god, I am – I am so sorry, I didn't know I'd be meeting you today." She tossed a Look in Nick's direction, who merely rolled his eyes and smirked. "I promise I would have looked nicer!"

"You look beautiful, sweetheart," Ella told her with a smile, moving her wheelchair next to a stone garden bench so Judy could sit. "I'm just glad you're here. I was starting to think Nick would never bring you by!"

"I had no idea you lived in town," Judy admitted. "But I'm glad you do."

"Do your parents live here?" asked Ella, and Judy shook her head.

"No, they're about a two hour train ride away," she sighed. "I miss them sometimes. A lot, actually. I wish I could see them more often." She turned her head to look around the area again, smiling to herself when she saw some more elderly animals wave to Nick, who responded with a wave of his own.

"Looks like Nick is here pretty often, huh?"

Ella beamed. "Oh, yes. He comes at least three or four times a week, if not more. It makes some of the other old bitties around here jealous, because their kids don't come as often. But last week, Nick came by and barely even paid attention to me, just played chess with old Mr. Seymore," she nodded in the direction of a well-aged lion in the distance, seated in his own wheelchair.

"Well, that was awful sweet of him," said Judy, giggling over at Nick. He shrugged.

"Puh-lease. I was just trying to hustle him for money."

"You lost," his mother reminded him.

"I didn't say it worked."

Judy caught his eye and shook her head at him, her lips quirked in a genuine smile. He returned it, though he carefully looked away when Ella looked between them. "So which apartment do you live in?" asked Judy, and Ella pointed.

"That one over there – very nice, the favorite section of everyone here, because it's near the Putt Putt course. Which, if I'm being honest, should be renamed after me, because I am the reigning champion for the last two tournaments."

Judy gasped excitedly. "I've always wanted to play Putt Putt!"

"Oh, I'll show you!" said Ella, equally eager. "Nick! Find my favorite putter!"

"Right now?" he laughed incredulously. "We're really going to play Putt Putt right now?" Judy hopped to her feet and shot him a smug smile.

"You started this by bringing me here. Now we're going to _destroy_ you!"

"Ooh," said Ella with a gleeful laugh. "I like this girl!"

They hurried off without him, and Nick grinned to himself, even as he shook his head and sighed. "What have I done," he wondered aloud, before hurrying off after them.

* * *

Nick and Judy ended up staying with Ella for a few hours, playing Putt Putt – which Ella won, through absolutely no assistance of Nick or Judy – and then touring some of the little shops, in one of which Ella bought Judy a little necklace with white and blue beads.

"So pretty," she said, and Judy beamed. She'd missed having a mom around to do stuff like this with. Plus, she got the additional bonus fun of watching Nick get scolded every few minutes for touching things, or being in the way, or something else that was equally amusing. By the end of it, Judy and Ella were quite fast friends.

"I'm so glad you two came today," Ella told them, offering Judy a hug. "Really, Judy. Don't be a stranger. Come and visit any time you like."

"I will," the bunny replied sincerely.

"What about me?" asked Nick, looking offended. "I'm your son. Am I invited?"

Ella waved at him dismissively. "Oh, I see you all the time." Then she laughed, tugging him down for a kiss and a hug, which he returned.

A dark-furred fox in nursing scrubs appeared next to Ella's wheelchair. "Time for your medicine, Mrs. Wilde," he said, offering her the pills, which she accepted with only a small twitch of dissatisfaction. The nurse took her water cup and pointed. "Also, Mr. Seymore told me to remind you about your lunch date," he said with a hint of amusement.

Ella scoffed. "Oh, that old lion can wait." She looked back to Judy and said with great certainty, "It's good to make the males wait, you know."

Judy giggled wildly at Nick's eyeroll. "I'll remember that," she said, before they said their last goodbyes and Nick and Judy left the way they'd come.

The gates closed behind them and they walked to the sidewalk, heading in the direction of the bus stop. They remained quiet until they reached the bench and stopped, with Nick leaning against the side and Judy next to him. At last, she spoke up.

"You let me meet your mother," she said, unable to hide her pleasure. "That means a lot to you."

"And how do you know that, hm?" he asked, giving her an amused but thoughtful glance. Judy made a little noncommittal noise.

"I can just tell," she said slyly, bouncing on her feet. A thought suddenly struck her. "Wait – That's where all your money goes, isn't it?" Nick looked over at her, surprised. "I mean," Judy went on, "You bragged about all the money you made before, when we first met, remember? And you don't spend it on yourself, so… " she glanced behind her at the stately community.

"You use it for her, don't you?" she asked, her voice softening at Nick's pensive appraisal of her, as if he, again, was trying to decide something. At last, his lips quirked at a subtle, somewhat sad smile.

"Well, that," he confirmed with a nod. "And I put a lot of in a savings account."

"For what?"

"Honestly? Bail."

Judy's cheeks lifted in a smile, and Nick sighed loudly, again returning to his usual unconcerned air. "But hey, hopefully I won't need that now. Maybe I should buy a car or something." They boarded the bus and rode back to the side of town where Nick's apartment was. When they stepped off the bus and paused outside of his apartment building, Judy touched his arm to still him.

"She seems _really_ happy," she told him, and Nick ticked his head in her direction.

"I hope so," he said quietly. Judy thought they might go inside, but instead Nick pulled her away from the building's double-doors and to a grassy area nearby. Judy joined him under a tree, sitting shoulder to shoulder.

"Okay, so," Nick started, before pausing and looking over at her, only to see her face peering at him thoughtfully, with no expectations or judgments. He relaxed a little, but Judy could read the tension still in his shoulders as he spoke. "I told you we were really poor when I was growing up, right? My mom had to work three jobs just to make sure we ate, much less had what a little fox wanted growing up."

Nick reclined against the tree, one hand balanced on his upraised knee. "So of course, I started getting into trouble, and the older I got, the worse I was. And then when I was 18, I got arrested." He made a face. "I don't even – really remember what it was for, I was stealing something, I think. Anyway, my mom got really upset at me, and I – " he paused, a rare look of discomfort passing over his features as Judy watched, lavender eyes curious. "I acted like an idiot. And I blamed her. I told her, if we hadn't been so poor, I wouldn't have to steal."

Judy frowned, but her heart sank even lower at Nick's troubled expression. "You were young," she reassured him softly. "You made a mistake."

The fox chuckled weakly. "Yeah, not my first. Not my last." He cleared his throat a little. "Anyway, after that, I ran off and… " he frowned again. "I didn't see or talk to my mom for six or seven years. Not at all." He glanced over at her, still waiting for her to admonish him. She didn't, and he continued quietly.

"Then, one day when I was in my twenties, I got a phone call saying she'd had a stroke." He nodded for no reason in particular. "And I knew – I just _knew_ , when I showed up, she'd already be gone, and I'd never get a chance to tell her I was sorry for being such a worthless son." A sigh. "And then when I heard she was alive, I didn't think she'd want to see me. But she did."

He glanced over her. "I didn't deserve her forgiveness, but I took it anyway. And after that, I swore to myself I would take care of her as best as I could. So, for a few years, I did that. It was hard, because I was still doing the same old schemes, but I was trying to hide them from her."

Judy watched him shrug as he continued. "It was just too easy to make money that way. It was what I had always done." He made a face again. "Anyway, after a few years, her health problems got worse and I realized I couldn't care for her myself anymore. So we found that place back there, got her in, and she's lived there ever since."

"What is it, exactly?" asked Judy curiously. "It looks like an apartment mixed in with a resort or something."

"It's a … very _nice_ retirement community," he told her. "It's got shops and a salon and all kinds of stuff, plus medical staff twenty-four hours a day. That way, she's never alone. She's never without care." He huffed a little, looking down at his hands. "She's not even that old – in her sixties. But she had a rough life, and it took its toll on her. I wish she didn't have to live there at all, but at least… at least she doesn't have to worry about putting food on the table anymore. She can relax, play games, go to the salon and… apparently con old lions into taking her out for lunch." Judy sat in silence, thoughtfully turning over Nick's words in her head. After a moment, she smiled gently at him and reached over, taking his arm and looping it in hers.

"I really liked her," she said with an enthusiastic nod. "She puts you in your place, and I enjoy that." Nick rolled his eyes at her, but his smile returned, and his expression lost much of its wistful sadness.

"Figured you two would get along," he said, and Judy blushed at the affectionate warmth of his tone. Tightening her hold on his arm, she laid her head on his shoulder.

"Today was an excellent day," she informed him confidently.

He glanced down at her, then leaned his head against hers and chuckled. "Yeah," he agreed. "It was."


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: Heeeyy, thanks for the reviews, fellow Zootopia lovers! Hope you guys continue to enjoy…

* * *

The day dawned early and bright.

"Alright, alright… " Bogo looked around the room of rowdy police officers with his usual deadpan expression. "Everyone shut your jaws. We have actual business to attend to."

"Inspirational start, as always," muttered Nick from the chair he shared with Judy. She poked his side and he yelped. "Ow! You and my mother, I swear."

"Shh!"

Nick rolled his eyes and looked back to Bogo, who flipped through some papers on the podium. "Item one," he grunted. "We have a new recruit." He scanned the room for half a second. "But I don't see him, and that's all the effort I'm putting forth."

"I'm back here!" called a voice.

" _Item two_ ," Bogo went on pointedly, earning snickers from the larger mammals in the back. "Those damn t-shirts the Mayor ordered for us came in." He tossed a handful of them at the group of police officers, including one which landed on both Nick and Judy.

"Weren't any in your sizes," he told them gravely, as Judy held up the overly large ZPD t-shirt. "You'll have to share that one."

Nick raised a brow. "You know," he said wryly. "I have always wanted to be a conjoined twin. Seriously." Bogo rolled his eyes. "Think of the benefits," Nick went on to Judy. "Never have to watch scary movies alone… Two for one selfies…"

"Item _three,"_ Bogo continued, cutting him off. Now, as he held up a thick file, his features grew genuinely dark. "The Morehouse Murders case has been reopened."

A hush fell over the room. Even the raucous activity in the back chair paused, as the more experienced officers frowned or looked to one another. Judy twisted in her seat and peered at them curiously.

"The Morehouse Murders, sir?" she questioned to their chief.

"Previously six victims," said Bogo, gesturing to the file. "With the last being almost two years ago. The murders were linked by style, but nothing was ever confirmed. Little to no evidence was found, and the killer has not been identified, despite our best efforts." He huffed. "The count is now seven. A new victim was found last night, near the western gate to Sahara Square."

"And are we sure it's connected?" asked Broderick, a large black wolf.

"Same MO. Same victim pattern." Bogo slapped the folder shut with a frustrated snap. "Now look, we've managed to keep this story largely out of the media, and I want to keep it that way. We don't need a panic. I want this sick bastard found, and I want it now."

The imposing buffalo scanned the room of officers before his gaze landed on Nick and Judy.

"Officer Hopps," he said sternly, and Judy sat up as straight as possible. Bogo observed her coolly for a moment before he rounded the podium and dropped the file on the table in front of her. "I want you and Wilde to take this case."

"Us?" exclaimed Nick. His eyes widened, a protest more than ready on his tongue, but Judy had already grabbed the folder and looked up to Bogo with that determined, nearly fanatical sense of duty on her pretty grey features.

She rushed out, "I – Yes, I mean - yes, sir. Of course," before clearing her throat and saying more firmly, "Yes, sir. We're on it."

"Good," said Bogo flatly, looking briefly to Nick in warning. "I expect results."

"You'll have them, sir," Judy confirmed. Bogo dismissed them a few moments later, and the rabbit turned to Nick in their chair, her lavender eyes wide. "Nick, holy canoli, can you believe this? He gave US the case!"

"Which is pretty weird," muttered Nick lowly, eyes shifting mistrustfully to Bogo's retreating back. "Considering we're two of the newest officers in here. This is a big case, Judy. Seven murders? I've been a cop for all of six months."

"We can do this, Nick." Judy grasped his hand, and her hopeful gaze was like a shot to the heart. Geez, she had a powerful stare. Who knew what Nick might agree to with that face looking up at him? He could hear the conversation now.

 _Come on, Nick. Let's jump off this cliff and see if we sprout wings!_

 _Eh, I'd really rather not, Judy._

 _Please, Nick!_

 _Ah, hell. Breathing is overrated. Let's do it._

The real-life Nick pushed his reservations back from his features, difficult as it was. "Yeah, you're right," he said at last, only twitching a little. "We can totally solve this… heinous murder case that's been ongoing for almost ten years."

"That's the spirit!"

"How do you not recognize my sarcasm by now?"

"Oh, I do," said Judy cheerfully as she dropped off the chair. "I just ignore it. You know, by filtering through all of your so called witticisms, I've found you to be _quite_ agreeable."

Nick dropped down from the chair and smirked at her. "Sounds like hanging around me takes a lot of work," he noted.

Judy grabbed up their shared t-shirt. "It is," she said with a nod, before smiling and poking his side. "But it's worth it." Nick grinned a bit at that and walked with her out of the conference room, through the department and to their sparsely used desk.

"So what's the details on this case anyway?" he asked, leaning against the desk and tossing aside the too-large t-shirt. Judy took a chair and opened the file. As he watched her eyes scan the text on the front page, he knew she didn't like what she was reading.

"It's like Chief said," she told him quietly. "Seven victims. No witnesses. Barely any evidence." With one small hand, she reached to turn the page. As soon as she did so, she let out a shriek and shoved the file out of sight, dropping it to the desk with a shaky gasp.

"What is it?" asked Nick, straightening quickly. He snatched up the file and opened it, turning to the second page, which as it turned out, was a set of crime scene photographs.

"Yikes," he murmured, a deep frown finding its way on his features. "Whoever this guy is… he's _skinning_ them."

The pictures weren't easy to look at – every victim was nearly unidentifiable, just piles of meat with loosely connected limbs. Blood on the scene and around the decaying body. Some internal organs on display nearby. A few featured close-up shots of skulls, still containing eyeballs, but peeled away from the skin and exposed in the most grotesque manner imaginable.

Nick looked slowly up at Judy, who remained at her desk, her features pinched with distaste and fear. "You okay?" he asked, closing the folder. Judy swallowed tightly and nodded, before clearing her throat and forcing herself to stand.

"I'm fine," she said, making every effort to sound normal. "I just – didn't expect, ehm." She finally managed to meet his gaze. "I was just a little shocked, that's all. I can handle it."

To prove her point, she took back the file and opened it to the photographs again. Every tense motion of her body made it clear that she wanted nothing to do with the images, but she forced herself to look anyway, her body straining to pull her away from the grotesque sight.

"Ahem," Judy pointed to one picture without touching it. "This was the most recent victim." She scanned the others, relaxing only a little. "And this was the first – found on Morehouse Street."

"Hence the case name," pointed out Nick, his eyes still on her, rather than the pictures.

"Right." Judy nodded and closed the file. "Well, I guess – I guess we have a lot of work to do." Nick nodded, though he kept his watchful gaze on her. Judy had a tendency to get – well, caught up in things. She dove headfirst, and – okay, he could admit it – that worried him.

"Officer Judy?"

The pair looked up to see Mrs. Otterton standing with a basket of fruits and veggies. "Oh, Hi there," said Judy with a smile, obviously glad for the distraction. "How are you doing Mrs. Otterton?"

"Oh, just wonderful," the little otter told her earnestly. "I hope I'm not interrupting! I only wanted to bring by some of the best from our garden for you."

Nick smiled a bit at Judy's shining eyes. Mrs. Otterton came by at least once every two weeks with a basket or other little gift for Judy. The bunny had told her more than once that Mrs. Otterton didn't need to feel obliged to her, but she'd insisted. Nick was glad. Judy needed the diversion.

While Judy and Mrs. Otteron chattered about the little ones, Nick picked up the file again and began flipping through the pages. He didn't expect to find anything new – the information was over two years old, and much more experienced officers than he was had looked at it long and hard – but as he scanned the list of victims, his heart sank.

Glancing up quickly, he nudged Judy. "Hey, I'll be right back." Without waiting for a reply, Nick tucked the file under his arm and marched straight to Bogo's office. He knocked once and then entered.

"Come in," said the buffalo flatly, after Nick was well inside. The fox shut the door behind him and paused, looking over Bogo as he sat behind his large desk.

"Aren't you supposed to be looking over your case?" grunted his boss.

Nick narrowed his eyes. "I was." He held up the file and moved to stand in front of Bogo's desk. "And I noticed something about the victims you've got listed here."

"I should hope so," said Bogo derisively. "Seeing as how that _is_ your job."

Nick's glare deepened, but he reeled it in, turning to pace the floor as he flipped open the file and began to read aloud. "Jenny Malone, age 22, squirrel. Lisa Adders, age 24, rabbit. Trish Tipper, age 21, gopher. Harriett Myers, age 28, muskrat." Bogo tried to interrupt him, but Nick spoke over him.

"Emily Bounds, age 25, rabbit. Sarah Marshall, age 23, lamb." Nick snapped the file shut and looked up at Bogo. "And Marsha Lumens, age 26, squirrel." Bogo's nostrils flared, but he remained silent as Nick held up the file.

"All female. All in their twenties. All prey species."

Nick's eyes flashed and he continued with increasingly heated tones, "So tell me, Chief – because I'm giving you the benefit of a doubt here – why did you put the _only_ female prey species in her twenties in your _entire department_ on this case?"

Behind his desk, Bogo looked over Nick with a deeply resentful stare, his massive shoulders tight.

"Please," said Nick more quietly, but no less distressed. "Tell me you are not using Judy as bait for this maniac."

"Officer Wilde," Bogo stood very suddenly. "Are you suggesting Officer Hopps is incapable of solving this case?"

Nick scowled. "Of course not – "

"And are you also suggesting," Bogo rounded the desk, "that Officer Hopps is not intelligent enough to discern the connection between the victims?"

"No, I'm not saying that – "

Bogo cut him off. "Listen here, Wilde. Officer Hopps is well aware of the dangers of her job, which is almost certainly the reason why she is not the one in my office right now, wasting my time with petty complaints."

Nick clenched his jaw.

"Now," said Bogo, standing tall over Nick. "If you are so concerned about her safety, I suggest you channel that energy into closing up this case. Because if you somehow manage to locate this killer, Officer Hopps will be safe. But if you do not…"

The two males stared hard at one another.

"Unfortunate circumstances may occur," finished Bogo.

Every ounce of self-control clawed at Nick's limbs, and at last, he snatched the file off Bogo's desk and stormed out without another word. Judy met him a few steps out of the office.

"Hey, what – What were you doing in Bogo's office? Oh, no, Nick. You're not in trouble, are you?" she asked. It was a fair question, since he was in trouble pretty often. Nick blinked at her, momentarily trapped in his angry stupor. At her concerned look, however, he managed to pull out of it.

He glanced once at the file in his hand, a warning on the tip of his tongue for her, but he reluctantly kept it to himself. Bogo, that sorry excuse for a police chief, was right about one thing. Judy could look at this case and know how the victims were identified. She didn't need him to degrade her by explaining it.

"S'fine," Nick answered. "Really. I was just – asking about some details of the case."

Judy frowned, obviously concerned, but she took his word for it. "Okay," she said, sighing softly. "I wish we had more to go on."

"Hey," Nick forced himself to smile. "We've done more with less, right? We'll figure it out." It occurred to him then that they needed to step away from this stuff for a while. It would do them both some good. Yes, a relaxing night with Judy. One that didn't involve stomach-turning pictures of dead bodies.

Unfortunately, as soon as Nick opened his mouth propose something fun for the evening, a slow, drawling voice from behind interrupted them.

"Officer Judy Hopps?"

The pair turned to face a male rabbit in a ZPD police uniform. _Jumps_ read his badge. He stood taller than Judy, but not as tall as Nick, and his fur was mostly white rather than grey. Nick's eye twitched involuntarily when the rabbit actually bowed to Judy, though he might have just been nodding and caught himself off-balance. _You've got to be kidding me._

"I'm Michael Jumps, m'aam," the rabbit said, "I'm the new recruit Chief Bogo was, uh… well, talking about earlier. And I just wanted to say – well, I wanted to meet you, because you are such an inspiration to me." He gestured to himself. "I've always wanted to be a police officer, but I didn't think a rabbit could do it! But you, m'aam. I saw you on that television, and I said to myself – that Officer Hopps is showin' you that you can do it, Michael. So go and do it. And I did!"

"Oh, that's so great!" Judy exclaimed, delighted. "It's so wonderful to meet you!"

Michael Jumps continued on in his same fashion, but all Nick could think about was how annoying his accent was, and how it looked like he was talking with his mouth closed. _Who let his country ass in here,_ Nick wondered.

"… be glad to show you around the station, right, Nick?"

"Eh – What?" the fox blinked at his partner, who glared at him but tried to remain patient in front of the newbie.

Judy repeatedly emphatically, "I _said_ , while Clawhauser is putting Officer Jumps' information into the computer, we would be glad to show him around the station. Isn't – that – right?" she gave him her sternest of looks. Nick blinked, unfazed and uninterested in Michael Jumps or anything that was even mildly related to him.

Still, Judy's glare was almost as potent as her pleading pout. "Oh, yeah," he said at last, making no effort at all to sound genuine. "De-light-ed."

The three mammals turned and made a circle in the station, with Judy pointing out things that were actually pretty obvious, but seemed very impressive to the new guy. Nick said little, but Judy kept nudging him whenever his eyerolls became too much.

They paused at the holding cells. "Hey look, Wilde," said Jumps with a guffaw. "Someone wrote your name on the holdin' cell wall!" The three looked to the scratched text, which read:

 _CALL FOR A GOOD TIME_

 _NICK WILDE_

 _810-993-9166_

"Damn it, Finnick," muttered Nick.

"That's funny," said Jumps with a snicker. "Hey, I was gonna ask you – I knew a fox where I was, well, actually, he came through town one time, sellin' some stuff. He was alright, good fella. His name was Larry. You know Larry the fox?"

Judy brought up a hand to cover her face as Nick's eyes slowly slid to Officer Jumps, who waited for his answer. After a long suffering breath, Nick answered, "No. I don't know the random fox named Larry who travelled through your backwoods burrow at some point in time."

"Heeey," Judy jumped in front of Nick and put her hand on his arm. "Why don't you go check with Clawhauser to see if Officer Jumps' information is in the computer yet?"

"Gladly," Nick said with mock enthusiasm, before he left the two bunnies alone and went up to the ground floor, where he rounded Clawhauser's desk. "Hey Benny," he said mildly, picking up a cup of pens and sorting through them. "You got Cotton-Eye Joe's stuff in the computer yet?"

"Who?" questioned the plump cheetah.

"The new guy. Skips."

"Jumps?"

"Yeah, whatever."

Clawhauser looked back at his computer and clicked a few things. "Just a few more – click, click, clickety click, aaaand done!" He turned back to Nick. "So, what do you think of the new guy?"

"You don't want to open that can of worms."

"Aw," Clawhauser waved a finger at Nick teasingly. "I think someone might be a leeettttle jealous." Nick dropped the cup of pens and scoffed.

"Jealous of what? The fact that he's never had to deal with anything as complicated as indoor plumbing?"

Clawhauser pushed his face into his paws and leaned over the desk. "Mmm, no. More like how he totally worships Judy." The fox rolled his eyes and pulled out a pen to point threateningly at Clawhauser.

"I don't care what that idiot thinks of Judy." He paused. "Besides, she's just being polite. Like she always is."

"Mmhm," Clawhauser picked up his cell phone. "You know what I think would make you feel better?"

"Don't do it, Ben."

"Oh, but," Clawhauser steadily tapped out something on his phone. "I'm already… looking up your picture…"

"I mean it, you better not – "

"Beep, boop beep," the cheetah didn't even look up. "… andddd done!"

 _~Try everything~_

Nick dropped his arm heavily against the desk, doing his best not to look at his head dancing on the body of a tiger around pop singer Gazelle. "You are the living embodiment of evil," he deadpanned.

"Wilde!" snapped a voice to the side, and Nick scowled heavily before turning on his heel. "Moleskin!" he greeted the short mole wrapped in a labcoat. "How can I help you… in order to make this conversation as brief as possible?"

The scientist's nose twitched. "Have you read your case file yet?"

"Course I have," Nick inspected his claws. "And aren't you supposed to be in the lab, analyzing our one and only piece of evidence?"

Moleskin dropped a small packet into Nick's hand with a dull glare. "You're out of luck. Fur's contaminated." At Nick's distressed noise, he continued, "One of you guys in the field must have messed it up. I can't get a read on it at all – not even what kind of animal it is."

Nick held up the small sample of fur, locked carefully in a small baggie. "Great," he said, peering at the long white hairs. "This was all we had to go on."

The mole snorted. "Like you two have a chance of solving this case anyway," he muttered as he turned away. Nick pocketed the sample.

"Hey, be sure to avoid windows on your way back to your little hole," he called out after the mole. "Wouldn't want you to turn to ash if you come across natural sunlight!" He dropped back against Clawhauser's desk with a deep sigh. "Damn it. Judy is not going to like this." Turning swiftly, he pointed to Clawhauser.

"I'm eating all your candy tomorrow."

The cheetah gasped.

"All of it," Nick said as he walked away. "No matter where you hide it, I will know." With that last threat, Nick left the front desk and found Judy, still talking with Officer Jumps, who was hanging on her every word.

"Bad news," he said, ignoring the male rabbit. "Our sample came back from the lab. It's worthless."

"What?" Judy shrieked, momentarily forgetting the newbie. She took the small packet from Nick. "But that was all we had to go on! Arrgh!"

Jumps leaned over, peering at the packet thoughtfully. "White fur, huh? You sure that's not from the victim?"

"We're positive," said Judy tiredly, shaking her head.

"Then maybe the killer's like, a polar bear or something," offered the other rabbit. Nick's entire face accompanied the annoyed motion of his deep eyeroll.

"Nice try," he said, taking the sample back from Judy so Jumps couldn't see it. "But polar bear fur isn't white."

"Which I also didn't know," comforted Judy, "You know, until moving to Zootopia. Not many polar bears out in the bunny burrows."

Officer Jumps' face scrunched with confusion. "Wait, if it's not white… Why does it look white?"

"Light reflection," answered Nick without looking up. When Jumps' confusion visibly increased, he cocked a head in the rabbit's direction. "Look, I'm not your third-grade science teacher, okay? I don't have time to explain this to you. Have I mentioned that Clawhauser has your stuff in the computer? Because he does."

Jumps blinked. "Oh, well, I guess I should – uh, go then."

"It was very nice meeting you," said Judy with a smile, shaking his hand and gently shoo'ing him away. "I'm sure we'll see you around!"

As soon as he was gone, she turned to face Nick, her arms folded. The fox glanced around, as if looking for the mammal responsible for inciting such a heated glower. "What?"

"You were so rude to him!"

"Yeah, but," Nick leaned against the desk. "Was I any more rude than I normally am to strangers?"

"A little, shockingly enough," she responded with a twitch of her nose. Nick tried not to smile. He almost succeeded, but not quite, which only incensed Judy's irritation. "Be nice to him, Nick. He's new. You remember how scary that was."

"Mmhm." Tossing aside the file, Nick drew her away from the others with a touch to her sleeve. "What do you say we go get those – weird smoothie things you like so much after work?"

Judy's gaze turned suspicious. "You never want to go get smoothies with me."

"Well, that's because I still have all my teeth and I'm not a hundred years old. Smoothies seem a little superfluous." He pointed. "But I know _you_ like them."

The little bunny shifted on her feet. "I don't know… I feel like we should stay late. Or at least I could, you know? Look over the case, see if I can't find anything new. Maybe if I – "

"Okay, this is exactly what I'm trying to avoid," said Nick, fighting the effort to take her hands in his. "I understand the need to work hard on this case, I do, but I don't want you to let it get to you. This stuff is too gruesome to take home with you, Judy."

"I know that," she said a bit defensively, but she softened almost immediately. "I just," she lowered her voice to a whisper. "I just want to make sure we do this right, Nick. I mean, Bogo is counting on us. He gave us the most important murder case of the past decade because he believes we can solve it!"

The conversation in Bogo's office floated to the surface of Nick's mind, and once again, he opened his mouth to bring it up. But something stopped him.

"I know," he said instead, his voice low. He considered telling her he didn't want her to overwork herself, but he knew how that would sound to Judy. "You're right. I'm just – " he paused, before pressing on, "I'm just trying to destress myself, is all. And that works best when you're around." He smiled, because even though it wasn't what he really wanted to say, it was still true.

Fortunately, it worked. Judy relaxed a little and, after spending a moment nibbling on her lip, she nodded. "Okay. You're right, we need to both be in tip top shape to do this. No need to work ourselves up."

"Exactly," he agreed, secretly relieved. Unfortunately, that relief was short-lived.

"Hopps, Wilde," one of the other officers poked his head in. "We got a witness out here who wants to talk to you."

Judy hopped up immediately, her eyes wide. "A witness? That's amazing! Come on, Nick!"

A few minutes later, the pair came to a stop outside one of the white-walled rooms beyond the holding cells. Lenny, the elephant officer over Narcotics, gave them a brief overview. "Possible information on the latest victim," he told them quietly. "Go easy on her. She's pretty upset."

Judy nodded, and as Nick watched, she ducked away to grab a small bag. They entered the room a moment later to find a young female deer sitting at a table, her hands folded and her head low. She seemed to shrink underneath the heavy fluorescent lighting in the room, and when Nick and Judy entered, she immediately tensed.

"Hi there," said Judy with a gentle smile. Nick glanced at his partner appreciatively, particularly when the young deer calmed a little. "My name is Officer Judy Hopps. This is my partner, Officer Wilde."

"H – Hi," the young doe replied. "My name is Pheasant Winslowe."

"That's such a beautiful name," Judy said sincerely. "Do you want some water?" she asked, pulling out a bottle of water. The doe nodded and took it gratefully, and after she took a few sips, she looked back to Judy and Nick.

"Miss Winslowe," Judy began. "Our fellow officers told us you think you might have some information about the recent death of Marsha Lumens."

Pheasant sniffled, and she hunched her shoulders. "I – I don't know. I mean," she swallowed tightly. "I didn't know Marsha all that well. But we both worked late on the same street – she worked at a twenty-four hour laundromat, and I work at an all-night convenience store. So we used to keep each other company on our breaks, and then we'd walk to the parking deck down the street together as soon our shifts were over." Pheasant's voice cracked. "You know, because it was so late… we were … trying to be safe," she began to cry.

Nick watched as Judy rounded the table and took a seat next to her, one hand on her shoulder sympathetically. "It's okay, take your time."

Pheasant fought to stifle her tears. "Marsha would wait for me, even if she – she got done before me, she was so nice." The deer swiped at her face. "But then one night, she didn't show up. And I didn't know her that well, you know. I thought she might've just called in or something. But then, the next day, I heard she'd been…"

The doe burst into tears.

"You work across the street from where Marsha's body was found," Nick prompted gently. "Did you see anything at all while you were working?"

Pheasant sucked in a deep breath. "Well, before I realized Marsha wasn't at work, I noticed someone hanging around her laundromat. I didn't see much – just someone in a big black coat, with a hood. He was hanging around the right side alley…I didn't think anything about it," she looked to Judy, guilt clear on his features. "I mean, it was kinda weird, but we see lots of weird stuff, working so late at night."

Nick turned to his notebook and scrawled some notes.

"Could you tell anything about the guy in the coat? Like how big he was?"

Pheasant shrugged tearfully. "Um, about your size, maybe a little bigger? Not as big as a lion or tiger, but not very small, either." She sighed. "It was hard to tell, he was moving in the shadows."

"Any visible fur?" asked Judy.

The doe paused and then shook her head. "I'm sorry. I wasn't paying that close of attention. I didn't think it was important at the time." She tucked her head in shame. "I wish I could help more."

Judy helped her stand and insisted she take the water bottle with her. "You were very brave to come and talk with us," she told Pheasant. "Thank you."

The young deer nodded gratefully to Judy and shrugged on her coat. As she did so, she turned to the pair again. "Please catch whoever did this," she said, her words trembling. "Marsha – She didn't deserve to die like that."

"No one does," Judy said softly. "Thank you, Miss Winslowe."

The witness nodded and then left, closing the door behind her with a click.

Nick scanned his notes, before his eyes lifted to Judy's pained expression. "Not much, but it's something," he said quietly, studying her features. Judy nodded and sank into a chair, swallowing thickly over a lump in her throat.

"It's like you said," murmured Judy, looking down at the blank table. "We've done more with less."

"Yep," he rounded the table and sat next to her, in the chair the witness had left empty. He closed the notebook. "Judy – "

"I need to go search on some of the databases," she said suddenly, rising from her spot and away from Nick. "Maybe there's an old bit of evidence containing that description."

Nick jumped to his feet. "Hey, what about the smoothie thing we talked about earlier?"

"I can't think about that right now, Nick," Judy shook her head, her eyes low. "I – I've got to go look into this. I've got to see if there's something – anything we can learn from Pheasant's description." With that, she turned and left the room without looking back at Nick, who sank heavily against the table and closed his eyes.

The notebook dropped from his hand and hit the table with a vulgar slap.

* * *

That night, horrendous visions haunted Nick's dreams.

Judy, on the run from a pair of ghoulish hands, claws extended. Flashing teeth, fangs bared. The gruesome sound of ripping flesh.

It played over and over and over again, each time with some new horrifying detail, like the sound of wet blood dripping to the floor, or the sickening smell of decay.

"Agh!" Nick shot up in his bed, his eyes wide. A quick glance at his clock told him it was nearly 3 AM. Cursing, he fell back against his bed, chest heaving. The fervent desire to call Judy rushed to the forefront of his mind, but he resisted. She was okay. Judy was fine, in her little apartment.

He turned over in his bed and frowned.

She was fine, he repeated to himself, knowing full well that he'd feel better if she were right next to him.


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews and follows! The deeper I get into this story, the more excited I become. I hope you guys are enjoying it as well. Thanks again!

* * *

"You look pretty rough this morning, Nick."

The harassed fox in question turned his gaze up at Benjamin Clawhauser, who leaned over his desk and peered thoughtfully at him, one cheek smooshed into his paw. "You okay?" asked the cheetah.

"Didn't sleep very well," muttered Nick. _Eugh_ , he even sounded horrible. Clawhauser was right. He needed to get his act together before he found Judy.

Unfortunately, she spotted him first and waved furiously from the desk they shared at the back of the station.

Clearing his throat and hoping his restless night wasn't as obvious as Clawhauser had made it seem, Nick gripped his coffee and headed over. "Hey Carrots," he said, tone deceptively light. Lavender eyes turned up immediately under a furrowed brow.

"Are you alright?" she asked, features pinched with concern.

Nick paused, secretly glad to lay eyes on her. Those damn nightmares had persisted until the early hours of the morning, and it showed on his face, not to mention his thumping heart, which refused to slow, even when Judy stood right in front of him. He set down his coffee and made an effort to sound casual.

"I'm fine. But, uh," he shifted, hand dropping to trace invisible patterns on the desk. "I've been doing some thinking." He looked up and met Judy's attentive gaze. She could see something was wrong. Not that it was difficult (a fact proven by Clawhauser), but he would never get over the way Judy looked at him when she thought something was wrong.

Her concern felt so alarmingly personal.

"Well, I was just thinking," Nick rolled a shoulder in a shrug, because there was no way she was going to want to hear this and he might as well look nonchalant. "I was thinking maybe we should ask Bogo to give this Morehouse case to more experienced officers."

Every emotion he'd anticipated crossed Judy's open and clear features. Surprise, confusion, hurt, anger. All there, in rapid succession. She moved away from the desk and stood in front of him. "Give the case away? What – Nick, no. Why would we do that?"

"I just mean," he held up both hands, because for some reason, he felt that might appease her. "This is a really big case, Carrots. And you know, I'm – I'm a _terrible_ cop, and I – just don't know if I'm ready for it."

Judy folded her arms. "Since when do you think you're a terrible cop?" She tilted her head, her ears tall and alert. "Where is all of this coming from, Nick?"

He felt himself losing ground rapidly. Damn it. Judy was too smart for this.

"It just seems like this isn't something we're ready for," he raked a hand over his ears. "It's just – it's dangerous, okay? And I think maybe one of the other teams might handle it better."

Judy huffed quietly, before making an earnest effort to sound encouraging. "Nick, we're trained officers, just like they are. We can handle this, I know we can!"

He scowled quietly. "It's too risky, Judy! I mean, look at what this guy does," Nick said, snatching up the folder containing the gruesome photos. He knew he wasn't getting through to her, and he scrambled for something to say, anything to convey the lengthy panic attack that had kept him awake for most of the night. "I just don't want you to get hurt! I mean, what if this maniac got a hold of you, huh?"

Judy balked, taking a visible step back away from Nick. Something inside the fox clenched. _And there you go again, Nick._

"You think this is too dangerous for _me_ , not you," she murmured, her eyes dropping to the floor. Then they darted back up to Nick's, and the anger came back, quiet and subdued, but there nonetheless, evident behind the hurt. "Seriously, Nick? After everything we went through with the whole Night Howlers case? And you want me to give up the biggest responsibility of my career so far?"

Nick barely contained the effort to drag his claws down his face, frustration causing him to lose any pretense he'd managed before. "Judy, whoever this killer is, he targets mammals like you! Small female mammals and – I just think – "

"That it would be better handled by a bigger, scarier cop than poor little Judy," she finished, shaking her head. "This is our chance, Nick," she told him fervently. "Our chance to prove to everyone that the Night Howlers case wasn't a fluke. That we can really _do_ this. Why are you trying to make me give it up?"

"I'm worried about your safety!" exclaimed Nick, before quickly looking around and lowering his voice. "Why is that so wrong?"

"Because I need you on my side!" countered Judy, reaching up a grey-furred hand and swiping roughly at a tear that threatened to fall. "You're my partner, Nick. You're supposed to help me do this, not tell me I can't." A shaky sigh left her as she turned back to the desk and gathered some files, shoving them roughly in a folder as Nick struggled for words, thoroughly deflated.

"You know," Judy turned to face him again, her voice teary. "I can deal with everyone else underestimating me. I can take it." She pulled the file to her chest and looked up to meet his gaze. "But not you, Nick," she finished in a whisper.

After that, he could only watch as she hurried away from the desk, disappearing into the crowd of much larger mammals in uniform as they crossed the main floor of the police station.

Out of sight, not out of mind.

* * *

"Knock knock."

Ella Wilde glanced up at the sound of her son at the door. Another nurse – a small coyote this time – nodded to him in greeting as he passed through Ella's apartment door with a rolling medicine tray. Nick responded in kind before entering the apartment and smiling softly at the sight in front of him.

"What do you think?" his mother asked, leaning back in her chair to survey her work. "Too much blue?"

Taking a seat on the edge of a small bench, Nick peered over his mother's painting. She'd forever loved art, but had never had the time to pursue it until a few years ago. It was a pity he'd never known as a child how talented she was.

Nick put his chin in his hand and gave her a soft smile. "It's beautiful. Perfection."

Ella looked back to her painting and smiled as well, before dipping her paintbrush and continuing to work on the large canvas. "Oh!" she said suddenly. "I should paint something for Judy. Do you think she would like that?"

"I'm sure," he said sincerely, ignoring the twist in his chest at the mention of his bunny partner.

"Well, then," Ella removed her first canvas and pulled up a blank one, which she settled on her stand and looked over thoughtfully. "I will do that for her." A paintbrush in her fingers tapped on her snout as she thought about her painting. "Now, while I begin work on this, mind telling me what's bothering you?"

Nick eyed her wryly. "Who said something's bothering me? Maybe I just didn't sleep well," he remarked, knowing that his chances of successfully lying to his mother were quite low, as they'd been with Judy. And that had worked out very unpleasantly. In fact, Judy had spent the entire day's shift dutifully ignoring him at every turn.

Ellan hummed. "And considering you normally sleep like a rock," she said as she dipped her paintbrush in a nice green, "I'd say that means something is bothering you." She smiled knowingly and reached over, petting his head. The single motion was enough to drive Nick out of his adulthood and to the floor, where he tipped his head over in her lap and let her stroke his ears.

"Oh, this must be serious," noted Ella with a gentle, teasing smile. "Is it Judy?"

Nick made a face up at her, but didn't move away from her lap; instead, he sighed loudly, in his most aggrieved fashion. "Oh, you know. Just my usual pattern of screw-ups. Nothing new here." At his mother's look, he tucked his head against the fabric of her skirt, his eyes flickering up to her before looking away.

He explained tiredly, "We've got this – this really big case at work, and I can't give you the details, but it's pretty horrible. And as soon as I learned the specifics, I didn't want Judy to have anything to do with it. So I asked her to let our boss give the case to another team." The red fox dragged a hand down his snout. "I knew she'd hate the idea, but I thought maybe I had a chance of convincing her. Somehow. I don't know."

He scowled. "It's not that Judy isn't a great cop. She is, everyone knows she is. But Mom," he lifted his head to look at her. "This kind of stuff – she could get really hurt, I mean. Come on, she's like, two feet tall and twenty pounds! I had stuffed animals as a kid bigger than she is!"

Ella tilted his head as he spoke, listening carefully as Nick went on, the words tumbling out as his nightmares returned to the forefront of his mind. "I just don't want her to get hurt," he wailed, not caring how whiny he sounded, "and I feel like this is way, _way_ over our heads."

"And what did she say?" asked Ella patiently. Nick made a face up at her from the floor.

"What do you think she said?" he asked darkly. "She's Judy. I'm surprised she doesn't wear a superhero cape under her clothes and give longwinded lectures as someone hands her the key to the city." A frustrated growl escaped him, but it festered out as a whiny grunt and he let his head fall back into his mother's lap. "I just don't understand why I'm the bad guy when all I want to do is keep her safe."

Ella stroked the top of his head again. "Oh, look at my Nick. Finally doing a little growing up," she murmured, smiling when Nick shifted his head just enough to glare at her without sacrificing the rubs.

"Listen to me, son," said his mother quietly. "Being concerned for Judy's safety doesn't make you a bad guy. There's nothing wrong with worrying about someone you care for." She reached under his chin and tenderly tipped it up to look at her. "But the love you have for others – no matter what kind of love it is – must _always_ be synonymous with respect."

The younger fox straightened next to his mother's chair as she spoke.

"Don't you think I was always worried about you when you were younger? Don't you know I worry about you every day, even now?" she asked, gently tapping his nose, like she'd done so often when he was little. "But I couldn't hold you back. I still had to let you go. Because as much as I wanted to keep you at my side and know you were safe in my arms, I knew that was no life for you. I knew you had to go out and take those risks, even if they scared me, because that's what living is all about."

Nick raised a brow. "But I made _terrible_ decisions," he said stoically. "And I almost died a couple of times. I probably would have been better off just sticking with you, not screwing around on the streets."

"And then where would you be now?" she asked, "Hmm? Not working at the police department. Not partners with Judy. And certainly not the amazing, thoughtful and brilliant young fox you are today." The elderly vixen leaned back in her chair and observed him with an appreciative smile.

"You know a lot of things, Nick. And I don't say that lightly. But one thing you have yet to learn is how to let others know you care."

"Telling her I don't want her to get hurt isn't a good way to show someone I care?" he asked dryly.

Ella leaned forward in her chair. "Showing her that if she _does_ get hurt, you will always be there… that might be a little better." She kissed Nick's nose. "You can tell Judy of your concerns, but you can't control her decisions. That isn't fair to her."

Nick's lips quirked a bit at the kiss, and he reached forward, taking his mother's hand and holding it in his own without speaking. As he did so, he looked over to her blank canvas.

"You know," he said, glancing up at her. "Judy misses her little bunny burrow a lot."

Ella patted his hand in hers. "Ah," she said with a knowing look at her paintbrushes. "Then let's do something to help her out with that, hm?"

* * *

"Hey there, Carrots."

 _Thud_.

Nick placed the large, wrapped rectangle on her desk, only then realizing it was every bit as big as Judy herself. The bunny in question raised a brow and tilted her head at it, then looked to Nick, who propped it up carefully against the wall.

"What is that? A gift?" asked Judy curiously, her expression guarded.

Nick took a seat next to her in a rolling chair. "It is, but not from me. Though I am more than willing to claim credit if it will buy me any brownie points." Judy folded her arms, and Nick scooted a little closer, lowering his voice.

"Judy," he murmured, and the bunny's expression immediately softened to match his tone. "I'm sorry for what I said yesterday. I shouldn't have suggested you give up this case just because I was afraid something bad was going to happen." He kept his voice quiet. Didn't need this kind of talk getting out. Not just because he didn't like the idea of everyone thinking he was a big softie, but also because the whole apology thing wasn't exactly something he wanted others knowing about.

He liked to keep the expectations of others as low as possible, thank you very much.

Truthfully, this kind of frank admission was very uncomfortable, but when Judy bit her lip and tucked in closer to him, the discomfort eased. "I wasn't trying to say you couldn't do this case," he went on, glancing up as another officer walked by. "But I was still being pretty unfair to you. It was fear, and nothing else. No doubt. No distrust. I – I know we can do this."

"I'm on your side," he added sincerely. "I swear."

Judy's teeth worried over her lip for a moment more before she finally nodded, and then her expression eased into a soft smile and she reached over, touching his wrist with her small fingers. "I know you are," she told him earnestly. "I'm not mad at you. I just want to know you're here, that's all." She shrugged her tiny shoulders. "We're a team. And besides," she pushed back one of her long ears. "I worry about you, too. I don't want you getting hurt either."

"Well, then," said Nick, smirk slowly sliding back into place. "I guess we should just keep watching each other's backs then, huh?"

"Definitely," she agreed, her features instantly brighter, and Nick secretly noted that their argument must have bothered her as much as it had him. Okay, so maybe he shouldn't have taken satisfaction in that. But he did. Not because he liked the idea of Judy being sad, but because - well, the idea of moping around like a sullen teenager while the other company was completely unaffected was just pathetic.

"Now," Judy shifted her curious gaze over to the wrapped canvas. "About this gift…"

"Oh!" Nick grinned and turned in the chair, pulling it up and settling it between the two mammals. "Yes, this is for you. Open it." Edging forward in her chair excitedly, Judy ripped off the paper and gasped, delight taking over her features in an instant.

"Oh, Nick! Look! It's BunnyBurrow!" she pointed at the landscape painting before squinting at the signature at the bottom. "Your mother made this!"

"Yep," Nick placed his arms on the top of the tall painting. "Just for you, Miss Hopps."

Judy jumped up and did her very best to hug the painting, but it was too wide. "I love this so much! I'm hanging it up in my apartment as soon as I can." She sat up straight and tried to peek over the painting at Nick. "I want to go thank her face to face!"

"We can go this weekend," he suggested, willing to offer her just about anything she wanted at the moment. He felt he owed it to his heart, which felt a thousand times lighter than it had just fifteen minutes ago. Judy thought on his words for a moment and then hmph'ed to herself.

"I can't, I promised my parents I would visit them this weekend," she said, before her features lit up again. "Hey, you should come with me! You can meet my family!"

Ah, the quick, optimistic mind of Judy Hopps, at it again. Nick blinked. "Uh, your – parents?" he questioned, trying to cover up the insane amount of cynicism at the idea. Judy caught on to it, of course, but she simply put a hand on her hip and rolled her eyes at him.

"Come on, I met your mom. You should meet my parents! They'll be super nice and very excited."

He doubted that very much. "Mmhm," he said instead of voicing such a thought. "And the carrots? Will I be forced to eat more of those?" he asked wryly. "Because Death by Carrot is something I'm just not ready for."

"It'll be great, I promise." Judy gently set the painting aside. "Please?"

 _That look,_ thought Nick. Like an arrow to the heart.

"Fine," he muttered, doing his best impression of someone on death row. Judy beamed in response and went for her phone, which she used to call her parents to tell them Nick would be accompanying her. And all the while, all Nick could think was how the relief he felt at having Judy smiling in front of him again was almost tangible enough to hold in his hand.

* * *

Once the city was behind them, the open landscape outside of Zootopia rushed by the train like a portrait in motion, with tall buildings falling away and grassy hills taking their places outside the window. Judy leaned against the glass and watched with all the enchantment she'd entered the city with almost a year ago.

There was something about going away from home that made one appreciate it more heartily, Judy decided.

"When was the last time you left the city?" she asked the fox next to her, who leaned back in his seat with his sunglasses firmly in place.

"It's been a while," he admitted, more than a little nervous. Not about the fact that they were leaving the city, of course – okay, well, maybe a little, because unfamiliar territory was uncomfortable territory, and that was all there was to it – but because Judy was so certain this was going to go well.

Him? Not so much.

"Hey, relax. This is going to be a fun weekend," she told him, reaching over and taking his hand. Nick looked at it in surprise before he let himself sink more comfortably against his seat and squeeze her hand in return. _Sentimental bunny_ , he thought.

Together, they watched out of the window as the train blazed a path down through open fields and lines of crops, eventually passing through a small town lined with simple wooden buildings. "Look!" Judy pointed, tugging at Nick excitedly. "That's where I went to school! And that's the post office!"

"And let me guess," Nick smirked, nodding to the train station. "Those are your parents."

Their train car slowed to a stop and Judy hopped up, straight over Nick and into the aisle, only letting go of his hand when she leaped out to the platform. "Judy!" called out her mother, before wrapping up her daughter in a hug. Nick stumbled to a stop behind her and watched as her dad scooped both of the lady bunnies up in a bear hug of his own.

"Oh, look at this Jude!" he exclaimed happily, kissing the top of her head. "Big city celebrity here to see little ole' us!"

"Aw, Dad," Judy laughed, before turning to look at Nick, who watched from a distance, his gaze tender. Judy's parents turned with her, looking to Nick with undisguised curiosity. "Mom, Dad. This is Nick Wilde," Judy said with an eager twitch of her nose, reaching forward for Nick's arm and tugging him over.

"Nick, these are my parents, Stu and Bonnie Hopps."

For a moment, the three newly introduced mammals simply stared at one another. Then Nick extended a hand, his heart pounding and his voice in danger of cracking like it hadn't since he was twelve.

"It's a pleasure to meet you both," he managed.

To Nick's great relief, Stu Hopps stepped forward and took his hand, giving it a hearty shake. "It's mighty nice to meet you, Mr. Wilde," he said, with all of Judy's frank sincerity. Bonnie forwent the handshake and enveloped him in a hug, much to Nick's alarm. Judy's poorly stifled snickers earned a glare from the fox.

"Thank you so much for all you've done for Judy," her mother clasped his hand in both of hers. "We feel so much better about her being in the city, knowing she's got a partner she trusts like you."

Nick chuckled a bit. "Honestly, she's saved me more times than I've saved her," he admitted with a smirk in Judy's direction. She grinned in response.

"It's true," she said loftily, pretending to buff her nails on her shirt. "Come on, let's go. I can't wait to see everyone!"

Well, as it turned out, everyone really was _everyone._

"I told you," came Judy's sing-song voice at his side, her overnight bag firmly in one hand. "I have a _big_ family."

Nick gaped. "This isn't a family, Carrots," he informed her. "It's an army."

Deceptively small on the surface, Judy's family burrow stretched for what seemed like miles of tunnels in all directions, all branching out from a massive circular living area roughly twice the size of his entire apartment. The floors were a dark wood, but the walls were hard-packed dirt, with curved doorways leading into the many rooms, most of which Nick assumed were for sleeping.

The kitchen, of course, was more like a mess hall, with long tables stretching out from end to end, and all kinds of food organized in the typical family-chaos type manner he'd witnessed in other homes, only on a much larger scale.

And the bunnies. Good god, all the bunnies.

"You think if I knocked one over, the rest would just fall like dominos?" he asked Judy with a smirk, before he was quickly ushered by Judy's mother through the sea of bunnies to a small room with a curtain instead of a door.

"Here you go, Mr. Wilde!"

"Call me Nick, please," he insisted, tossing her his most charming smile as he set his bag next to the small bed. Judy's mother waved bashfully at him before letting him know dinner would ready soon. She dashed out, leaving Nick to look over the bed, which was almost certainly too short for him. A giggle made him look up, and he folded his arms at Judy's amused look.

"Think you can handle this for a weekend?" she teased.

"Pfft," Nick cocked a brow at her. "What? You think I can't hack it out here in the country, Carrots?"

Judy sidled into the small room and gave him her sneakiest smirk – an achievement Nick secretly took credit for. "Oh, come on. You?" she leaned over and grinned. "Mister _City_ _Boy_?"

"City boy?" he repeated with a chuckle before he cocked a head at her. "Challenge accepted, Carrots." He poked her shoulder. "I am about to spend the next two days showing you up at every single thing you hold near and dear to your heart."

"Is that so?"

"Oh, yeah," Nick pointed at her. "Cropping. And, uh… farming and – tractor – ing?" he paused. "Whatever, all that stuff. I'm going the whole nine yards. Plaid shirts. Overalls. Trucker hats with ironic sayings. All of it."

"If you say so," grinned Judy.

"I do," he said, with all the seriousness he could muster. "I also demand to be addressed as Farmer Wilde, for the next two days. Secure me a straw hat as soon as you can. I'll need it."

"Mmhm," Judy smirked as she turned to leave, still laughing. "Better set that alarm early then!"

"Bright and early!" called out Nick after her.

* * *

 _5:00 AM._

Nick stared blearily at the kitchen table and wondered how this time was even allowed.

Well before sunrise, and every single one of the ten-thousand bunnies in this place were all awake, including Judy, who sauntered into the kitchen in her little pink plaid shirt and happily plopped a straw hat on a still struggling Nick Wilde's head. "Good morning," she said sweetly.

"Coffee," he replied flatly.

"Oh," said Bonnie from her spot at the stove. "You know, we don't have one of those coffee maker things. Stu bought one a few years ago, but one of the kids melted it, doing somethin' or the other."

Panic gripped him. His life flashed before his eyes. The world began to spin. The sweet release of death seemed imminent.

"That's okay, we brought one," piped up Judy, after allowing herself almost thirty seconds of entertainment at Nick's expense. A moment later, she placed a tall thermos of coffee in his hand and turned him by the shoulder, directing him out of the kitchen and through the tiny front door of the burrow into the still dark-as-night outdoors.

"Drink up!" she told him, as if he'd even begun to let up his death grip on the thermos. "Because we have got a LOT of work to do, Farmer Wilde!"

 _Slurrrp._ Nick glared over the top of his thermos, much to Judy's obvious amusement.

 _6:30 AM_

"Alright, Nick," said Stu Hopps, pointing to the seemingly endless row of dirt. "Watcha gotta do is take this plow and till up the area here."

"All of it?" asked Nick incredulously. "How many vegetables could you need?"

Stu paused thoughtfully. "Well, I got more kids than the rest of town has mammals, and we pretty much feed em all! So a lot, now that I think about it!" He clapped Nick on the shoulder. "Have fun!"

 _7:15 AM_

Judy rounded a pile of hay bales and put her hands on her hips.

"Nicholas Wilde!" she admonished, looking out over the dirt, where fifteen of her little brothers and sisters rapidly tilled the earth. Nick, meanwhile, was sitting on a chair he'd fashioned out of several crates, sipping at a drink and wearing his shades.

"HE PAID US FIVE DOLLARS!" called out one little bunny happily.

The fox raised his sunglasses. "What?" he asked innocently, smirking. "It's called a business, sweetheart."

Judy tipped over his crate-chair and then stole his drink.

 _8:45 AM_

"You sure you know how to chop wood?" asked Stu, standing next to a stump and a pile of thick logs.

Nick tapped his shades further down his nose and waved a hand. "Definitely. Consider it done."

"Great!" Stu picked up an ax. "I'll check on you in a little while!" He dropped the ax in Nick's hand and turned away before he saw the weight of it nearly drag an astonished Nick to the ground.

 _Geez, what is this thing made out of, adamantium?_ Nick heaved up the ax, pulled up an equally heavy log and aimed. Unfortunately, the weight of the ax caught him off balance and when he pulled back to strike, he tumbled backwards, lost his footing and rolled down a small hill and straight into the lake.

 _9:00 AM_

Problem solving skills. Nick Wilde had them.

And when one of Judy's brothers on the other side of the field looked away from his pile of chopped wood, Nick dropped his ax, hurried over, snatched up the pile of split wood and ran back to his chopping spot. He dumped it on the ground and picked up the heavy log Stu had left him to split, hurling it into the lake.

"Nick!" Stu Hopps appeared, and then looked at his pile of split wood, pleased. "Wow, you did a great job!" He paused, brows furrowed. "Why ya wet, though?"

"Oh, I was just working really hard, needed to cool off," Nick gasped out, pointing at the lake. "You know how it is. Manual la – _bor_ ," his voice cracked. "It's the greatest." When Stu left, he glanced over to see Judy's brother glaring at him.

He pulled out a twenty dollar bill and put it in the rabbit's hand. "Keep up the good work," he muttered balefully.

 _10:00 AM_

"Here's the ignition," Judy pointed from their shared seat on the tractor. "And here's the gear shift. It's manual, and it's kinda old, so you gotta really crank it."

"Yeah, I bet," he smirked, unable to hide his amusement.

"Oh, shut up," Judy knocked him in the arm, and he moved to retaliate, but his foot hit the gearshift and the tractor lurched into reverse, crashing through the closed side of the barn doors and raining hay down on them from the loft above.

The tractor stopped, and they both stared, mouths gaping.

"Oh, look," said Nick with a wide-eyed nod. He pointed up. "A hay-le storm."

 _10:30 AM_

"Eight, nine, ten. There." Nick doled out the cash and pointed to the tiny bunny. "Remember, if anyone asks, I collected all these blueberries."

"Can I eat some?" he asked.

"Course," Nick shrugged. "What else would you do with them?"

 _11:00 AM_

Judy rounded the barn, calling out of Nick. "Nick! Where are you? Helloooo?" Only to find the fox with five of her little siblings, and when they turned to face her with wide-eyed looks of innocence, she saw that every single one of them – including Nick – had faces smeared with blueberries.

Judy folded her arms, fighting with every bit of her strength against the urge to burst out laughing.

"He did it!" shrieked her siblings, but Nick had already snatched the basket of blueberries and taken off.

* * *

"I've spent so much money today," Nick told her wryly.

"Mm, I'm surprised you have any room for lunch," Judy remarked, reclining on the blanket with Nick, who chomped into a tomato sandwich. "What with all those blueberries you demolished."

"I'm a growing fox," he answered with a confident nod. "I need my nourishment."

Judy giggled. "I guess today could have gone worse."

"That's true," Nick agreed with a small fanged grin. "So long as no one offers me a set of matches, your farm will still be standing when I leave." The two paused to look around at the brilliant blue sky, and Judy reclined next to him, her face turned up towards the sun.

Nick paused in his eating long enough to appreciate the sight of her so relaxed and happy, secretly glad she'd closed her eyes against the wind.

The noise of gravel crunching under tires alerted them both, and Nick and Judy looked up to see a pickup truck make its way down the dirt road. It stopped near the mailbox, and as Nick watched, Stu and Bonnie both stepped up to greet it.

A large, burly looking fox in overalls climbed out.

"So," Nick finished the last bite of his food and surveyed the scene. "That's Gideon, huh."

"Yep."

Nick observed the other fox critically before he asked Judy in a mutter, "Geez, what did his parents feed him growing up? Nuclear waste?" The bunny next to him responded by standing and pulling him up beside her.

"Mr. Grey!" some of the little bunnies ran right up to him. "Did you bring Mack and Lucy?"

"Aw, yeah," he pointed. "They're in the truck. We've got a few minutes if ya'll wanna play."

"Hooray!" the little bunnies dashed to the truck, and two small fox heads dwarfed by their alert ears poked out of the windows. "Mack! Lucy! Come out and play!" The two kits cheered and jumped out of the truck, following the little bunnies out into the open field and immediately breaking into a game of Marco Polo.

Nick watched the game thoughtfully as he and Judy approached, the light air of the day feeling strangely suffocating in that moment. "Judy!" exclaimed Gideon when they drew close. "I didn't know you was in town this weekend! Good to see ya!"

"Thanks, Gideon. We're just visiting," she said with a sincere smile. "Oh, and this is my partner, Nick Wilde."

Nick turned his attention to Gideon with a cool, indifferent expression as the other fox tipped his head at Nick, his features colored with a hint of apprehension. "Hey there. I'm Gideon Grey," he greeted a bit nervously.

"I know," was Nick's reply, his tone carefully crafted to be both unassuming and unfriendly, without sounding harsh. He let Gideon squirm in the uncomfortable silence that followed, but only for about ten seconds. Then he stepped forward and extended his hand, with just the smallest of smiles. "Nice to meet you."

Gideon jumped on the friendlier greeting, taking his hand and shaking it firmly. Judy rushed in before any more tense silences could transpire. "Oh, Gideon. I didn't know you had kids!" she chirped.

The fox slapped a hand on his thigh. "Me, either!" he exclaimed, as if he, too, was astonished by the coincidence of it all. "But hey, lesson learned." He clapped Nick on the shoulder with a heavy hand. "Always do a follow-up," he said with a sound nod.

Nick slowly looked over to Judy, whose features pinched with the effort not to laugh or cringe, whichever happened first. "That – That is definitely good advice, Gideon," she finally managed, before one of her sisters called out to her.

"Judy, come play with us!"

The little vixen, Lucy giggled wildly from her spot and pulled on the small bunny's arm. "Come on, we can do double Marco Polo!" she said, and the bunny turned and jumped on her back before they went tearing into the group of screaming children. "MARCO!" called the bunny on top of the fox's back.

"POLO!" yelled out all the others, including the little boy fox, Mack.

"Well – Okay, I'll be right back, guys!" Judy dashed off with the little ones, who screamed in delight when Judy entered the fray, leaving the two foxes standing side by side. Nick was more than content to watch, his lips quirked as he watched Judy play every bit as hard as the little ones.

Then Gideon spoke. "So, uh, I guess Judy might've told you about how I was when we were younger," he half-mumbled, half-grunted.

Nick continued to look forward as he said lightly, "Well, you know, she still carried fox repellent on her when we met, so I think it's safe to say you left an impression."

Gideon blanched at his side, and Nick shifted a little, raising an eyebrow at him. Again, he let Gideon shift uncomfortably, before he bailed him out. "But she also told you me you apologized," Nick shrugged. "So it's fine. She's forgiven you. She's good like that."

"Yeah," Gideon agreed sincerely. "She is, that Judy. Been helpin' other mammals for as long as I can remember." The two foxes continued to watch the playful game, and for a moment, neither spoke, until Gideon once again broke the silence. "So, you and Judy, are you two, like… uh," he raised both brows. "Together?"

Green eyes shifted to Gideon and then back to the game. Judy seemed to be out of earshot – or at least, the kids would drown them out. So Nick glanced in Gideon's direction and looked him over once before answering, "For the purposes of this conversation, let's say yes." He tilted his head, hands in the pocket of his slacks. "Do you have a problem with that?"

"No, no!" Gideon waved his hands. "I think it's – it's pretty great. I mean, it's kinda hard to believe, after the way I was. But that's just Judy, for you. She's got a good head on her shoulders. And I think it's real nice, honest." Nick let himself smile a little, but he kept himself from showing it.

"And if it makes you feel any better," Gideon went on, glancing back at the kids. "One of Judy's older cousins cornered me after high school once and beat the tar outta' me, so I kinda got what I had coming."

"Wow," Nick paused, astonished. "You went to high school?"

"Them bunnies," continued Gideon, not hearing him. "They're tougher than they look, ya know? Specially if they get the drop on you. Felt that beatin' for weeks." He rubbed his arm, as if it still hurt, but now Nick's mind was in a completely different direction.

"You there?" asked Gideon at Nick's pensive expression. The other fox blinked and shook his head.

"M'fine. Was just thinking about something at work," he said, looking up as Judy literally hopped over to them, grinning. "Have fun?" he asked, unable to hide his smile at her obvious glee. "You almost looked tall, compared to all the munchkins."

"Oh, haha," she said, before Gideon said his good-byes and called out to his little ones to come back to the truck.

"Aw, Dad! We wanna play!"

"Come on now," Gideon beckoned them. "You see 'em every day at school! In the truck, time to go!" The two little foxes said their good-byes and bounded to the truck, where they clambered in behind Gideon, who waved good-bye.

"You guys have a nice talk?" asked Judy, lavender eye curious.

Nick raised a brow and looped an arm around her shoulders. "Oh, you know. Just Farmer Fox things, that's all. You wouldn't understand." He plucked at his straw hat and led her away.

* * *

The end of a very long day ended in a beautiful, clear night.

Judy rolled her head to the side and looked to Nick as he watched the night sky with a rare look of genuine appreciation on his features. "The stars look different out here, huh?" she questioned softly. Nick glanced at her and his lips quirked.

"Yeah," he admitted, shifting on his spot against the blanket, his arms behind his head. The center of the field felt far away, not just from the burrow, which was out of sight, but from world as they knew it. Maybe it was the ear-splitting environment caused by being around two hundred kids all day, but the silence of the open field was one of the most amazing things Nick had ever experienced.

Even in the city, there was always the slamming of doors or windows, the shrieking of tires or the far off wail of sirens. Out here, it was the wind rolling over them, the grass stirring or the distant chatter of insects.

Judy and Nick reclined side by side against the checkered blanket, only the dim moonlight to illuminate the area around them. Not that it was a problem for Nick, of course. "I figured you'd think it was really boring out here," admitted Judy at his side, her face turning up to the moon. Nick shifted a little closer, for no real reason at all.

"Nah," he nudged her teasingly. "I've been to more boring places."

"Oh?" she questioned, grinning a little. "Like where?"

"School. And holding cells."

Judy rolled her eyes and bit back a smile. They fell silent again, simply enjoying the relaxing night. "Hey," Judy rolled to her side, one hand coming up to prop her long-earred head. "I know this might seem a little strange, but… " she paused, and Nick glanced over at her curiously. "Well, what with you meeting my parents, and my meeting your mom… Do you think your dad would have liked me?"

Of all the questions she might've asked in that moment, Nick certainly hadn't expected that one.

But the answer was easy to pull from the small well of sadness in his heart. "He would've loved you," the fox told her with quiet, frank sincerity, utterly confident. Judy's features lit up in a genuine smile, and she tucked her head against her curled arm.

"Really?" she questioned. "Are you sure?"

A hush fell over the pair as Nick let himself think back on his father. After gathering himself for a moment, he turned on the blanket to his side, as she had, his hand on the blanket near hers.

"My dad was named John Wilde," he murmured, and his lips quirked with amusement. "And he was the friendliest, nicest fox you'd ever meet." Judy's smile broadened, and Nick felt compelled, by the sheer nature of pleasure between them, to continue, almost as if he were telling a fantastic story, though it was all true.

"I mean, he was – he was great. Scatter-brained, full of the corniest jokes. Always coming up with new and crazy ideas." Nick rolled his eyes as he chuckled thoughtfully. "My mom thought he was brilliant, and maybe he was, but you'd never know it talking to him. He'd go from one subject to the next in three minutes flat, and even when I was a kid, I could never keep up."

"And he was always into all these business endeavors, you know? Like, right before he died, he decided he wanted to open up a suit shop – and not just for foxes, either," Nick told her emphatically. "He wanted a shop for all mammals, from rodents to elephants and everything in between." He gestured grandly at the sky. "And he wanted to call it – get this – Wilde and Son's Suit-topia _."_

Judy giggled happily. "That sounds like a wonderful idea!"

Nick dropped his hand and looked back to her, his smile softening, edged with a hint of sadness. "Yeah, well, the banks didn't think so. They refused to give him the loan he needed to open the business." A heavy sigh left him. "And then he got sick," Nick waved his hand, "and one thing led to another, and pretty soon he was in the hospital. I don't know exactly what happened, I was so young."

He shifted on to his back again, eyes on the starry sky. "For a little while – just a few days, really – he seemed to get better. He had more energy. He smiled again. But then, one day, he just … died." Judy lost her giggles, but not her attentiveness, and she edged closer, until she was nearly curled up against his side.

"I'm sorry," she told him tenderly. "He sounds wonderful."

Nick paused, restlessly filtering through all he'd told her, as if checking it for leaks. But this was Judy, he told himself. He could relax. His head tilted in her direction, their faces close. "It was a long time ago," was his reply, quiet and even.

To his surprise, Judy shifted over him and placed her chin on his chest, part of her torso covering his. Her purple eyes watched him carefully. "That doesn't mean you're not allowed to feel sad," she pointed out in a whisper.

His hand lifted and brushed back her ear, the tips of his claws brushing through her fur before his thumb rounded to her cheek and caressed there. He could almost feel the heated flush under the grey.

"I know," he murmured.

Judy leaned her head against his touch, before shifting her purple eyes up to his. Her body inched forward, and every receptor in Nick's brain – and other regions – reacted immediately. His fingers shifted down to her neck as she leaned over him, ready to tug her forward.

"Nick! Judy!" Bonnie's distant voice caused them to jump apart. "Supper's ready!"

"Ah – heh," Judy swallowed and hurried to stand. "Guess we should go back, then." Nick followed her reluctantly, sucking in a deep breath as soon as he was standing.

"Ye – Yep, yeah, let's – let's do that," he choked out, snatching up the blanket and following Judy inside.

* * *

The following day, Nick and Judy both said their good-byes.

"We better see ya'll again soon!" said her mother, hugging them both tight. "Be careful, and call me when you get back, Judy! Love ya!"

They boarded the car at the station and found their seats, settling comfortably together as the train zipped back to the big city of Zootopia. A thousand thoughts filled Nick's head, but one stuck out.

And it wasn't the one he particularly wanted to reminisce on.

 _Them bunnies, they're tougher than they look… specially if they get the drop on you._


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Note: Honestly, I should probably wait further between updates, so more people have a time to get into the story. I just get so excited! Anyway, thanks for the reviews, favs and follows! Happy readers are the best.

P.S. – The song Nick recalls Judy singing at the burrow is a duet called "Something That I Want," by Bethany Joy Galeotti and Grace Potter. I meant to include it in the last chapter, but I forgot, so I'm shamelessly sticking it in this one. Check out the video, the song is so adorable.

 **Edit** : I doubt many of you read this chapter in the 30 minutes it was uploaded before, but I changed some stuff! And if you didn't read it before, well good. You won't notice anything amiss.

* * *

Some time at the burrow had been exactly what she'd needed, Judy concluded during her usual 5 AM morning run.

Her mind was clear, her body was rested, and best of all, she and Nick had ended their argument and gone back to being the best of friends. Thinking back on their time out in the field, Judy's face, already flushed from jogging, burned further.

 _Cheese and crackers_ , she thought. What if Nick had thought that whole thing was totally weird? It hadn't _felt_ weird. But maybe…

Preoccupied, Judy turned on her heel and jogged back to her apartment. As she passed her new neighbors, yet another conversation filtered its way through the thin walls.

"Just think of all the perfectly roasted faces we get to munch on now!"

"But whyyyy?"

"Because we're friends. And friendship is two pals munching on a well-cooked face together."

Judy paused outside of the door and then continued on her to her apartment. "Yep," she muttered to herself with a nod. "Definitely need to arrest those guys."

* * *

"Got you this on my run this morning."

Nick Wilde blinked at the offered breakfast bar, before accepting it gratefully and eating half of it in one bite. "You run _before_ work?" he asked incredulously. "We get here at seven AM!"

Purple eyes looked up from their shared desk. "Well, I run before that!" she told him, snickering. "Duh." Nick raised a brow and continued to munch on his cereal bar between gulps of coffee.

"You are an unnatural creature," he informed her stoically. "I woke up at 6:50 today. Barely remembered my pants. I even brought my toothbrush to work with me."

"Yeah, don't share that information with anyone," Judy snickered, before her smile slipped away and she looked back at the Morehouse case file. After a few minutes of studying, Judy leaned back in her chair and looked up at Nick, who sat on their shared desk.

"You know," she said thoughtfully, "at first I thought these murders might have something to do with the Night Howlers. I mean, that's the only time we've seen something this vicious, right? But now I don't think that's what this is at all."

Judy opened the files and looked to the gruesome photos. "I mean, savage animals may attack small prey, but they don't skin them."

"Right," Nick agreed darkly as finished his cereal bar. "Only sickos do that."

"Not only that," Judy turned the pages, pulling out more documents from the back. "Bagheera was the officer on this case last time, and he noted that he thinks these are crimes of passion, but I'm not buying it. I mean, look here." The fox leaned in closer to Judy's notes. "Out of the seven victims, five of them were attacked while out walking at night. Not only that, they were all heading to places they visited regularly."

She pulled out some more papers. "Marsha, the latest victim, was on her way to work. Two others were university students heading to their dorms, one was also attacked while leaving her job, and the last was jogging, which her friends say she did almost every night."

Jogging. Nick blanched inwardly. Just like Judy does every morning, when it's so early the damn birds aren't even singing yet. He kept that thought to himself.

"Look," Judy pulled out three different local maps. "I did some research and found the paths the most recent three victims were on when they were attacked. The X right here," she pointed, "is where their bodies were found."

"But the attacks didn't happen where their bodies were found," Nick pointed out. "Only one victim was found near the sight of a struggle, that's where we got the fur sample."

"Right," Judy traced the lines she'd drawn, the last walks of the victims. "Which just makes me feel even more strongly that these attacks weren't random. I don't think this guy saw his victim type by accident and then felt the overwhelming desire to kill them. I also don't think he knew them or interacted with them at all."

Nick watched as she traced her grey finger along a penciled line on the map of the city.

"This was the route taken by Lisa Adders, one of the victims. It's the one where we found the sample," Judy tapped a spot along the written line. "And that's the sight of the struggle, the only one we managed to find in all the victims. Here, between two university buildings. But look, there's no exit in the back – it's blocked by a cement wall, because the other side was a construction zone at the time. Which means if that's where she was grabbed…"

"He was waiting for her," Nick shook his head, scowling softly. "No other reason for him to be hanging around there if he wasn't." Reaching up a hand, he rubbed at the back of his neck, where the hairs stood uncomfortably alert.

His eyes flickered to Judy's face. "So we're talking about someone who stalks the victims, learns their routines and then jumps them when they're in an isolated spot." God, just saying it out loud made him squirm.

Judy nodded. "And when he does, he doesn't just kill them. He skins them out of sight and then leaves their bodies to be found. Sometimes they're even posed." She closed the files, her brows furrowed. "It's like he thinks he's putting on a show or something. He's _enjoying_ this, Nick."

"What I don't get is how the hell he's grabbing these girls up and skinning them in public without getting seen?" Nick asked, waving a hand. "I mean, even if it is late at night, he was on a university campus. And Lisa Adders was a rabbit, she wasn't as small as Marsha Lumens. He had to have taken her somewhere close by."

The two officers fell silent to think, but they were soon interrupted by the shrill ring of their desk phone. Nick snatched it up and tucked it into his shoulder. "Wildehopps," he answered. After a few moments of listening to the other end, he motioned to Judy. "We'll be right there."

Judy hopped to her feet. "What is it?"

"Got the all-clear for the security cameras at the laundromat where Lumens worked, come on." The pair snatched up their things and hurried to the car.

* * *

Ten minutes later, Judy pushed through the front door of the laundromat, and Nick let it close behind them with a soft jingle. A face peered out of the backroom, nose twitching.

"Officers," greeted Tuck Evans, the armadillo owner of the business. He didn't seem too excited about their presence, a fact further proved by his low, grumbled greeting. "Let's get this over with," he continued with a waddle as they passed through the store front. "Cops showin' up at my door, scaring off all my customers."

Nick peered around thoughtfully. "Right, because I'm sure the dead body didn't take care of that for ya."

Evans led them the officers to the backroom of the establishment, before nodding in the direction of a small black and white monitor. "Haven't reviewed the tapes myself yet," he told him. "Police told me not to. But there're three camera views here, you can flip back and forth between them with this button."

He clicked, and the image – grainy and filmed in shades of grey and white – jumped from the inside the laundromat to the back door and then to the front again, this time angled at the register.

"Thank you," Judy nodded to him before pulling up an old plastic chair and turning the monitor to the inside camera, which focused on the counter and the back door. "So you said Marsha never clocked in for that evening, correct?"

"Right," the armadillo folded his arms. "Didn't even realize anything was wrong until I checked my programs in the morning, didn't see any activity from the register. Came right over, and that's – " he shifted uncomfortably, looking remorseful for the first time since their arrival. "That's when I found her, propped up against the front door."

Nick made a face before looking back to the monitor. "Geez, where'd you get these cameras? 1999?"

"Hey," Evans pointed. "I run a small business. I can't afford a bunch of fancy cameras. Lucky I even got these."

Judy remained focused on the monitor, ignoring the other two as she watched the grainy footage intently. "Never came in," she murmured to herself. "What time was her shift?"

"Started at 9 PM," responded the owner. Judy reached forward and tapped a few buttons, rewinding the film to 8:40 and then watching carefully. The other two males waited. 9 PM came and went on the inside monitor, but Marsha didn't appear.

"See," Tuck rolled his eyes. "You're wasting your time. I told you, she never showed up."

"Wait a minute," Judy leaned forward, her purple eyes suddenly narrowed. She rewound the footage again and then pointed, far to the back, where the backdoor was. Nick leaned over her shoulder, but it took him three tries to spot it.

"The deadbolt," he looked sharply to Tuck. "It moves at 8:54 PM. Someone unlocked it." He straightened. "Could that have been anyone except Marsha?" Tuck stared in disbelief.

"No, no. It had to be her, she's the only one besides me that has a key."

"Which means she got to the store," Judy quickly scanned between the three cameras again. "There's a camera on the backdoor, Nick. Look." She fast-forwarded the camera to 8:45 again and watched. The image showed the backdoor clearly, with a spotlight hanging just over it. If Marsha appeared, they would be able to see her.

Then, as the trio watched, the security camera began to move. Nick leaned closer, his hand tight on the back of Judy's chair. Not a soul stood visible in front of the camera, but the view turned very slowly and deliberately, moving away from the backdoor and up, over the back concrete lot behind the building, angling up and at the sky.

Judy stiffened in her chair.

"He moved the camera," she whispered.

Just then, footsteps sounded out of the camera's view. The jingle of keys followed, and then the distinctive click of the deadbolt. Nick and Judy leaned close, straining to hear.

Suddenly, the sound of squealing and screams blasted from the audio.

Judy jerked back, falling out of the chair and stumbling over her own feet until Nick caught her and helped her stand again. "What in the hell?" he yelped, but the squealing stopped as suddenly as it had begun. Silence filled the room again, and Judy's pounding heart became the loudest thing in her ears.

Tuck, standing nearby, stood and stared at the camera, horrified. "Oh, Marsha…"

"He caught her at the door," Judy looked to Nick, her eyes wide. Unfortunately, the video did not end there. Instead, it remained still and motionless for a few minutes before slowly shifting back, again operated by someone out of view. The backdoor reappeared, with no indication of what had just happened there.

For several long moments, nothing happened. Then, without warning, Marsha Lumens' face appeared in front of the camera again.

"Oh my god," Judy put a hand over her mouth.

Everything inside of her wanted to look away from the sight of Marsha's skin, stripped from its body and without its eyeballs, dancing on the gloved hand of someone out of sight from the camera. It bounced around in a little jig and the hand opened and closed, mimicking speech like a puppet.

Nick's jaws clenched tightly.

The newly skinned Martha continued its macabre show for a moment before it disappeared out of camera view again, the sound of quick footsteps fading away. The camera rolled on uneventfully for several minutes.

Judy reached forward and shut it off.

"How did he do it?" Nick asked at last. "He didn't kill her in view of the camera, he didn't do it in the store. There was no evidence of a struggle at the door." His eyes flickered to one of the outside windows, before he gestured to Judy. She snapped out of her horrified stupor and instantly shifted into cop mode again.

"Let's look outside. Pheasant Winslowe said she saw someone hanging around this alley," she said. The two left the laundromat and stepped outside, winding their way around the building. They looked all around, including the step to the backdoor, but there was nothing.

Nick huffed, green eyes moving quickly over the bleak landscape. There had to be _something_ out here.

Suddenly, he spotted something up above – a short ladder, part of a fire escape once, but now broken. It led up to the roof. Teeth gritted, Nick moved around Judy and hopped onto a dumpster before leaping and catching the broken ladder, praying it would hold him.

"Nick, where are you going?" called Judy, but she wasted no time in following him. Nick clambered up the ladder with Judy on his tail.

"Just wanted to see something," he said, looking up at the sky as he climbed. He reached the roof and pulled himself over the edge, and when he did, his body froze. Behind him, Judy came to stand. He heard her stop in her tracks, then numbly climb down from the ledge to stand next to him.

"Nick," she murmured, aghast.

 _HELLO._

The word was written tall and wide, smeared over the old flat roof in blood faded by the sun, partially covered by the dirt and leaves that gathered. All around the morbid greeting was more blood, scratched into the tile, drawn deliberately over every available surface, smeared on anything and everything. It looked like the morbid retelling of a toddler left alone with finger paints.

A struggle there had been, but it was so much more than that.

Nick pulled out his walkie-talkie, his expression grim. "Clawhauser," he called in. When the cheetah answered, he spared a quick glance at Judy, who stood stunned.

"Call in the forensics team," he told him, before sighing heavily. "We're gonna need some help down here."

* * *

Nick peered at Judy's withdrawn features over his cup of coffee.

"DNA tests proved the blood was Martha's," Judy dropped her arm to the table, ignoring her smoothie. "He killed her on the roof and then left us a message. Why?"

The fox swirled his coffee, green eyes dropping as he recalled the eerie rooftop. "He knows we're looking for him," he noted quietly. "He's following the investigation somehow, and it's not even in the papers. And you know what else that means?"

He shifted his elbows on the table. "It means any piece of evidence we find has to be taken with a grain of salt. If he knows who we are, he can plant clues and hints, anything to lead us away. And I don't know about you, but I have no desire to play hide and seek with a psycho. Whatever we do, we have to be on the lookout for a trap."

When Judy remained silent, her eyes downcast, Nick glanced around the station for onlookers and then leaned forward, catching her smaller hand in his. "Don't let this shake you, Judy. It's exactly what he wants. He's trying to screw with us."

Sighing, Judy shook her head at the table before lifting her eyes to his. "I just – After what we saw today, on that video… How can I possibly rest, knowing someone in the city is doing things like that? Someone I'm supposed to catch?"

"We'll get him," Nick dropped his head to lower his voice, the hand over hers squeezing gently. "Don't beat yourself up, Carrots." He tried to make her smile, but the cloud hanging over her head was too heavy. Time to call in the big guns, he decided.

"Hey, you still want to go see my mom? You wanted to thank her for the painting, right?" he asked, raising both brows. "You know she wants to see you. Plus, I'm pretty sure she has – I don't know, some really stupid, embarrassing childhood story about me to tell. That'd be pretty great, right?"

Judy's lips quirked just a little. "Yeah… I do want to see her. We should go," she cleared her throat and made an effort to smile, but the heaviness was still there. "Anyway, I should… I should go file this paperwork." Pulling away from him, Judy stood and left the desk, notes tucked under her arms.

Nick dropped his head to the desk with a loud _thump_.

God, what he wouldn't do to pull her out of this. Why, why, why hadn't she grown up wanting to be a cupcake maker?

"Nick?" Someone poked him. "You alive?"

He lifted his head and squinted at Clawhauser, who observed him with his usual lofty amusement. "Is more brain damage really what you need?" he asked with mock curiosity. At Nick's glare, he pulled out a pink envelope. "Hey, I wanted to ask you – I got Judy's birthday card for next week, but I wanted to ask how old she's going to be so I could write it in here."

Nick stared, his eyes steadily growing wider in a slow-motion moment of horror. "It's Judy's birthday next week?" he gulped. At this, Clawhauser folded his arms and rolled his eyes.

"Are you serious, Nick? Yes, it's Judy's birthday! How can you not know that?"

"I – Well, - I'm not a damn mind reader! I don't have her birth certificate memorized!"

Clawhauser plopped down into a chair next to the desk. "That's terrible. You are a terrible partner," he informed Nick. "Do you even know how old she is?"

Nick squinted. "Uhh… Wait – Yes. I – Okay, she's twenty-… three?" he frowned. "No, that's too young." Clawhauser slapped a hand over his face, tsking heavily. "Hey," Nick pointed. "Your judgment is not appreciated, nor is it helpful."

"Maybe you should call her parents and ask," suggested Clawhauser.

Nick rolled his eyes. "Her parents have no idea how old she is. They have seven million kids."

"And yet you only have one partner and _still_ don't know. Naughty, naughty." Clawhauser wiggled a finger at him. "Hey, guess what I got her? A blender for her fruits and veggies! It's bunny-sized. I'm pretty excited about it, to be honest."

"Wait!" Nick jumped up. "You can check the computers! Her age has to be in there, right?"

"Hm," Clawhauser tapped his chin. "I don't know, Nick. That seems like cheating. I don't think I should let you do that." The fox narrowed his eyes in a glare before suddenly dashing off for Clawhauser's desk, sprinting past other officers who stared, annoyed, particularly when Clawhauser rushed after Nick and tackled him to the ground. "No! That's cheating!"

Gasping against Clawhauser's weight, the two wrestled in full view of the department, most of which continued on without even acknowledging them. "If you don't let me look, I'm going to have to steal her wallet! Do you want that on your conscience, huh?"

"Oh, alright, alright!" The two finally pulled apart and Clawhauser ambled to his computer, which he clicked a few times on the keyboard before at last looking at Nick and sighing dramatically. "She's twenty-four."

"Ha! I was close." Nick leaned against the desk and straightened the mussed fur at his collar. "Now, what to get her… " he looked up thoughtfully at Clawhauser. "Hey, you like shopping. Let me steal your blender and you can have lots of fun getting Judy something else."

"Oh, you are the worst," Clawhauser turned away from the computer again. "Don't get her a blender, Nick! Get her something romantic!"

"Like _what_?" asked Nick, huffing as he folded his arms. "Judy doesn't even like – Hey, wait. What makes you think I even want to get her something romantic?"

"Uh," the cheetah pointed. "Your face. Every time you look at her, like this." He batted his eyelashes and curled his hands near his face, to which Nick responded with an eyeroll.

"Whatever, I do not look like that."

"Every time," insisted Clawhauser, giggling. "All day, every day."

Nick sighed, tapping his fingers on the desk before his features lit up. "Oh! We're going to visit my mom tomorrow. I can employ her to find out what Judy wants."

"Fabulous," intoned Clawhauser with a smirk. "You are a genius, Nick Wilde."

The fox slapped a hand on the wood. "And don't you forget it, pal." Turning away from the desk, he went to go find Judy again. Thinking she might've gone to the station's gym to blow off some steam, he headed in that direction.

However, when he arrived at the work-out room, he found a different bunny instead.

Michael Jumps stood poised, ready for the attack of his sparring partner, a large timber wolf. The wolf obviously dwarfed Michael, but the rabbit didn't seem hesitant or afraid. Nick stepped back further from the door to avoid being seen, but he kept a careful eye on the smaller of the two.

As soon as the wolf lunged, Michael rolled deftly out of the way. He turned swiftly, darting behind the wolf, and as soon the larger adversary dipped forward in a run, Michael jumped high and kicked him hard on the back, sending him crashing to the floor.

It was a very quick, efficient takedown.

"Great job," the wolf commended, laughing as he stood with Michael's help. "You're tougher than you look."

Michael chuckled. "Well, when you're the youngest of a hundred siblings, you gotta defend yourself somehow!" The pair laughed more before moving to the other end of the gym, but Nick remained where he was, his brows furrowed.

Thoughts shifting uncomfortably in his mind, he turned away from the gym and left.

* * *

That night, as Nick reclined against his bed in the dark shadows of his room, he thought back on his suspicions, as well as the seemingly never-ending sense of exhaustion he felt.

He handled things differently than Judy – that was no secret. It wasn't a better or worse way, just different. They had, after all, lived very different lives.

So even though he rarely showed it, he knew (as he was sure Judy knew as well) that the case bothered him. Seeing that sick freak dangle Marsha Lumens' skinned face in front of the camera like it was a joke. What the hell kind of mammal did that?

It was a difficult image to shake.

Rolling over on to his side, Nick grimaced against his pillow. How did other cops live with this kind of thing? Something as simple as enjoying a bright sunny day sounded difficult right now, what with the cloud of the murders hanging over them. Knowing, in his heart, that someone's family suffered from such violence – it was hard to justify his own happiness.

And that was something Judy felt strongly, he knew. So was it done? How could he and Judy live happily, dealing with things so hateful and violent every day?

Turning on to his back once more, Nick closed his eyes and let himself remember their last night at BunnyBurrow, when one of Judy's littermates – a sister named Jessa who looked very much like her – had convinced her to sing and play the guitar for the little ones.

"Oh, the musical stylings of Judy Hopps," Nick had teased. "I have to see this."

Judy had flushed, of course, but in the end, she had complied and taken up a stool and an acoustic guitar. After some whispering, the two sisters began to play, and Nick, now in his bed, felt his heart lighten at the memory of it.

The sound of her sweet, simple singing voice stuck with him, even more firmly than the horrors of the murder.

" _I'm a girl with the best intentions_ ," Judy sang with a smile, strumming on the guitar. " _Something I should probably mention._ " Her sister joined in. " _I like to get just what I pay for. So I pay and I get and I pay and I want some more, more, more._ "

Nick's heart raced as he remembered Judy's purple eyes lifting to his, her smile growing as he watched. " _And I want something that I want, something I tell myself I need, something that I want_ ," the pair sang in unison. The kids swayed and bounced excitedly, but Judy kept her eyes on Nick the entire song.

" _Something that I want, something I tell myself I need, and I need everything I see_ ," they finished with a last strum, laughing together happily.

In his bed, Nick rolled over again and clutched his pillow to his chest as he let the memory linger.

 _Ah_ , he thought to himself. _Like that_.

* * *

If night was the time of promises, morning was the time in which they were broken.

Nick's alarm beeped on and on, but it didn't stop until a certain bunny clicked the button on top and sidled Nick with her most disapproving stare. "Nick!" Judy poked him in the side, and Nick jerked away from his pillow, squinting at the grey-furred bunny.

At first, some secret, sleepy part of him hoped she's spent the night again and he'd just forgotten – but nope, she was fully-dressed next to his bed, wearing her little lilac long-sleeve shirt, and he was still in bed in his boxers, fur sticking up in every direction.

"Mmphh?" he greeted, squinting at his clock.

"We're going to visit your mom today," she reminded him, smiling a little. "Come on, Nick. I've been awake for three hours already!"

"You're not normal," he grumbled, falling back into his pillow.

"Oh, come on!" Judy's hands found his arms under the covers and pulled with all of her might, inching Nick slowly towards the edge of his bed. Grunting with effort, she planted her feet on the edge of his bed and finally pulled him off so they both fell to the floor in a flurry of blankets, fur and a lot of curses (from Nick, of course).

"Argh – " The two tangled in the sheets for a moment. "You know," muttered Nick, peering down at Judy beneath him. "This whole incident could have been a lot more fun if I'd been awake for the start of it."

Judy flushed, before darting out a hand and pinching his arm. "Get up, already!"

"I'm up!" Nick pushed off the covers and stood, stretching with a long yawn as Judy fought her way out of the pile of blankets. As soon as she was clear, he picked one up and tossed it over her head again, just to hear her grunt in anger and furiously scramble to free herself again.

By the time she could see, Nick was already in the shower, though he didn't bother to close the door.

Rolling her eyes, Judy shook her head and tossed his blankets back on his bed, even going so far as to make it up properly, though she doubted he had planned on doing so. "Nick," she called out, her tone wry as she flicked a finger over his clothing rack. "Do you ever untie your tie? Or do you just leave it loosened on your coat rack every day?"

Nick lathered himself up in the shower. "I feel like that's a loaded question," he answered over the sound of water. Judy rolled her eyes before leaving the bedroom so he could dress, not that she would put it past him to show up in just a towel.

Ten minutes later, Nick appeared in the living room, freshly scrubbed and fully dressed. "Come on little bun," he said, peering at Judy over the back of the couch, where she lay stretched out, looking pensively at the window.

"Old Lady Wilde awaits."

* * *

The visit was exactly what Nick had hoped for.

As soon as she saw Ella Wilde, Judy's face lit up. She chattered on about the painting, and Ella received her with equal delight. Smirking – because, ah, he certainly was a genius – Nick decided to feign interest in something else to give them some alone time.

"Hey there, Mr. Wilde," greeted the coyote nurse, whose name tag read _Ellis._ Nick tipped his head to the nurse and left, wandering around to find that old lion so he could challenge him to another chess match. After a half hour, he returned to his mother's apartment and paused at the door.

"… it gets so tough," Judy told Ella, frowning as she twisted her hands in her lap. "I just want to help other mammals. But sometimes, it's so much harder than that." She shrugged, and as Nick peeked around the corner of the door, he saw Ella reach forward and take Judy's hands in hers with a sympathetic squeeze.

The elderly vixen kissed Judy's little hands. "Oh, Judy. I had many dark times when I was younger. It's hard to feel happy when you have so much weighing on you," she said, before continuing on in warm tones Nick knew so well, "But one day, many years ago when Nick was just a little kit, I read a book written by an eagle." With a gentle hand, she tipped Judy's chin up and the two women smiled. "And that book said, 'The world is indeed full of peril and in it there are many dark places, but still there is much that is fair. And though in all the lands, love is now mingled with grief, it still grows, perhaps the greater.'"

"That's beautiful," murmured Judy, her eyes shining.

Nick leaned against the doorframe and watched appreciatively as Ella gathered Judy in her arms for a hug. "I know things are hard for you right now, Judy. But keep your chin up… because you have a lot of love to look forward to."

Judy sniffled a little and let Ella pull her up into her lap. "Thank you," she said, as Ella patted her head.

"No need to thank me, sweetheart," Ella smiled affectionately. "Sometimes you just need a mom, that's all."

Slipping his hands in his pocket, Nick pulled away from the door and gave them a few minutes more. As he did so, his eyes turned to the window and some of the large greenery outside caught his attention.

In that instant, an idea struck him.

* * *

Author's Note: The 'eagle' mentioned as the author of the quote is JRR Tolkien. Because I am a dork.


	5. Chapter 5

Author's Note: I know this is a crazy fast update, but I did some re-working and I had to get this out before it drove me insane. A very big thank you to Bearmauls, a wonderful reviewer who was kind enough to help me out with this chapter!

Also, saw on tumblr where Judy's middle name is actually Laverne, so I changed it.

Again, thank you for reading, reviewing or bookmarking!

* * *

 _Tap. Tap. Tap._

One claw-tipped finger led Nick through webpage after webpage on the work computer he shared with Judy. She wasn't there, obviously. Otherwise, he might've actually been working, rather than flipping through certain internet searches on Zoogle.

"Whatch'you lookin' at jewelry for?"

Nick's thought process came to a grinding halt at the drawling voice behind him, and he hurriedly clicked out of Zoogle before twisting in his chair to see Michael Jumps.

"You wouldn't understand," he told the offending male rabbit, recovering his calm expression in an instant. "It's grown-up stuff."

Michael rolled his eyes. "Do you know where Judy is?"

"I sure do," Nick turned back to his computer and began typing again. Michael waited next to the desk for a moment, before he realized Nick didn't plan on following up with Judy's location, much to his annoyance. With an exasperated huff, the rabbit folded his arms.

"You know, you are awful protective of her. Either that, or you're just an ass."

"I can't be both?" asked Nick without looking away from his computer. "Look, I have work to do. Is there a reason you're looking for Judy? Because I'm sure it can be handled by someone else. She's busy."

"I just wanted to ask her about her jogging," said Michael. "Someone told me she goes in the mornin' time, and I wanted to know where."

This made Nick pause, and he shifted in the chair again to look at the rabbit with a narrowed gaze. "And why would that be any of your business?"

Michael raised a brow. "I like to go runnin' too, and we live in the same neighborhood. Only wanted to see if she knew of any good spots, that's all. What is your problem?"

The fox's face slipped back into his usual impassive expression. "I don't have a problem, Skips." He turned back to the computer.

"Jumps," the rabbit rolled his eyes.

"Skips. Jumps. Old Mcdonald. Whatever."

This time, the rabbit let out a frustrated growl and advanced on the desk, but Bogo appeared at that moment, imposing and irritated as ever. "Is there a problem here?" he grunted, looking between the two. Michael immediately backed down, but continued to glare at Nick, who watched with only faint interest from where he cushioned his chin in his hand.

"No sir," grumbled Michael, shooting an irritated look at Nick once more before he turned and walked off. Bogo followed the rabbit with a glare but still saved enough animosity for Nick, who waved enthusiastically in response. Bogo rolled his eyes and stomped off, muttering something about smartass foxes.

Turning back to his computer again, Nick resumed his research until he saw Judy approach from where she'd been the entire time – helping set up for a retirement party in the breakroom. It would have been laughably easy to tell Michael that, but ah-ha, he hadn't felt like it.

Quickly shutting out the screens again, Nick turned to face Judy, only to see her cross her arms and glare at him.

"Why do you _try_ to be so rude?" she asked before he could open his mouth. Nick glanced up, doing his best to look busy and productive in order to soothe her wrath. It rarely worked, but at least it covered up his smirk.

"You're going to have to be more specific," he told her plaintively.

"I mean with Michael," she exclaimed, dropping into her seat next to him.

Nick made a scoffing noise. "Oh, what a little Peter Tattle-Tail," he reclined in his chair and put his hands behind his head. "What is he, ten? I guess not everyone is as mature as we are, Judy."

Judy gave him a wry look. "He didn't tell me, Nick. I heard him complaining to his partner just now."

"Hey," Nick gestured to himself. "I was just sitting here, minding my own business, when he comes up and starts talking about the shrine of you he has built in the back of his closet _._ " He shrugged, looking bewildered. "It was the weirdest thing," he continued, not at all concerned, because Judy was definitely cross with him, but he could read amusement buried deep in her features.

 _Wit wins the day again_.

"So to summarize," Nick went on with a smirk. "One hundred percent not my fault."

"He said you called him Old McDonald."

Nick snickered to himself, hands behind his head. "Yeah," he said with a chuckle. "I did say that."

"Do you have to be so rude to him, Nick?" asked Judy, exasperated. At this, the fox twirled in his chair to face her, his expression composed of nothing but innocence.

"I don't have to, no," he said, before shrugging. "But it's just so _easy_."

"Argh!" Judy dragged her hands down her face. "You are so – frustrating sometimes! Why am I the only mammal in this entire department that you treat with any respect?"

Nick paused to sincerely consider the question. "I guess I just like you best."

At this, Judy dropped her hands and made a face at him, but the tension melted away from her shoulders. "Nick, you know how it works when you're on a team, right?" she scooted a little closer. "This job is different for you, I know."

"Yeah, especially considering that I didn't even have a job before."

Judy raised a brow at him. "Exactly. You need your other officers to trust and respect you, which means you have to respect and trust them. And that's not going to happen if you push everyone away except me." The bunny kicked her feet, too high in the chair to touch the ground. "I mean, you never know," she went on. "Something may happen to me some day, and you'll need a different partner."

"Don't say that," Nick sat up straighter in his chair. "If something happened to you, the least of my worries would be finding a new partner."

Judy blinked at his swift change in tone, and Nick blanched inwardly. "Calm down," she said with a little smile, finally relaxing as she leaned forward and lightly thumped his shoulder. "I plan on being around a pretty long time."

Nick's heart lightened at her teasing. "Mm, as do I, Carrots," he said, carefully taking on his most casual tones one more, "Which means until something crazy happens, you're stuck with me." He paused, before snickering to himself. "Hm, I just thought of a really dirty joke. _Wow_ , I'm glad I didn't say that out loud." He tapped his chin, still chuckling. "You probably wouldn't get it anyway, it's a fox thing. I should definitely tell it to Finnick, though."

"Well, then," Judy stood with a smirk. "I'll just go do something productive while you sit here laughing at your own jokes. You know, as usual."

"A typical Tuesday, indeed," he smiled at her. As she moved to stand, he forced himself to act quickly before he could talk himself out of it. He grabbed her hand, and Judy paused, looking back to him curiously. After a quick glance around the department, Nick tugged her a bit closer.

"So, a little birdie tells me it's your birthday in a few days." He paused, smirking at Judy's surprised face. "And by birdie, I mean a cheetah. A cheetah who likes doughnuts."

The bunny bit her lip, her lips quirked at a shy smile. Nick raised both brows, smiling a little as he asked, "Why didn't you tell me?"

Judy leaned against the desk and shrugged a little, her cheeks flushed under her fur. "I just didn't think it was a big deal."

"But it's totally a big deal," he countered. "You and your litter mates probably shifted the earth's rotational axis when all eight hundred of you were born. That's like – important." He let go of her hand but remained close, his heart thumping uncomfortably loud in his chest. "Which is why I propose we do something fun this weekend."

"Like what?" asked Judy, looking pleased at the idea.

"Likeee," Nick contemplated how much to reveal. "An event, in the Rainforest District. An event which is a surprise. But you'll love it, cross my heart."

Judy pretended to consider this. "Will it just be the two of us?" she asked slyly.

Something inside of Nick's heart and mind squeaked loudly, undignified even on the inside. Out loud, he answered smoothly, "Well, yeah. Isn't that the way we normally do things?"

To his delight, Judy smiled at his words and nodded. "Yeah, that's true. Okay, fine. Birthday weekend at the Rainforest District."

* * *

The best part about this gift idea, Nick decided, was that if he totally chickened out and kept it to himself, Judy would never know.

They could enjoy the night out, have some fun away from the stresses of work and maintain their perfectly wonderful, platonic friendship. Toying with the new purchase in his hand, Nick stepped out of the shop and tucked it into his pocket. After taking a long, quiet stroll around town, he came back to his apartment and fell on his bed.

Without conscious thought, Nick pulled the box from his pocket and opened it, peering thoughtfully at its contents.

The truth was, Nick knew what he wanted, and personally, he wasn't all that concerned with anyone else's thoughts on it. Whatever the reaction of others, Nick was well-versed in ignoring them. Not since that fateful day as a cub scout had he let himself grow too concerned with the opinions of others.

But Judy – Judy was a different story. Not just because he absolutely cared what she thought (and oh, he did), but also because, as she had pointed out today at work, she wanted the respect and kinship of those around her. She'd been raised in a tight-knit community, after all. And there was nothing wrong with that.

However, that was something being in a relationship with Nick might take away.

Scowling softly, Nick opened and closed the box in his hand as he lay stretched out on his bed. His relationship with Judy was already more than friendship. Perhaps it didn't have a name, but it was there, more meaningful than anything else he'd cultivated in his life, with the exception of his mother.

And if he had to make do with that, he could.

Because who was he to deserve Judy anyway? His earlier argument with that dumb jackrabbit came to mind. Thinking about Skips – or Jumps or whatever the hell his name was - possibly having an interest in Judy was beyond infuriating, but at the same time, it made sense. More sense than he and Judy did together, at least in respect to popular opinion. Because Judy was everything any kind of mammal _should_ be.

She was kind, thoughtful, hard-working, sincere, and intelligent. She loved her family and put everything she had into her job. She was funny, sneaky and delightfully witty. Nick reached up the hand holding the small box and knocked himself in the head with it, eyes closed. It thunked lightly on his skull.

He didn't know exactly what kind of trouble a relationship like theirs would invite, but he was almost one hundred percent certain he wasn't worth it.

And that was all _if_ Judy really wanted it.

A large part of him felt like she did. She didn't treat him like she treated everyone else. But then again, Judy was young and had lived at home until just a year ago. And since Nick was too much of a coward to actually ask, he could only assume she hadn't had a serious boyfriend before.

So why take the chance on him?

"Arrgghhhhhh," Nick rolled over and buried his face in his pillow, the small box gripped tightly in his hand.

* * *

"Ooh, Judy!" Clawhauser waved emphatically, and Judy smiled before hurrying over to his desk, only to see a pink envelope and a wrapped gift extended. "I know it's not for a few days, but I won't see you, so – Happy Birthday!"

A delighted gasp left the bunny. "Oh, Ben! You didn't have to do this," Judy clambered up on to the desk and sat with her legs crossed, a happy flush on her cheeks. "Seriously, I didn't want to make it a big deal."

"Oh, pah," Clawhauser waved a hand dismissively. "This is a time to celebrate! Open, open!"

Giggling, Judy opened the envelope first – an adorable _Clawmart_ card that played a Gazelle song when opened – and then her gift, the bunny-sized blender. "This is great, Ben! Thank you, thank you!" Judy hopped up and hugged his neck before dropping back down to the desk once more, admiring her blender. "I didn't realize anyone even knew."

"Mm, just a few of us," Clawhauser smirked, his tail twitching mischievously behind him. "Say, isn't Nick taking you somewhere this weekend?"

"Huh?" asked Judy, looking up from her gift. "Oh, yeah. We're going to the Rainforest District for something, but he won't tell me what."

"Fancy! What're you going to wear?"

Judy set the gift aside. "I don't know," she said, tilting her head and giving Clawhauser a suspicious look. "Why does it matter?"

At this, the cheetah's eyes widened and he pretended to busy himself at his desk. "Ooh, I – I don't know, nothing, no reason!"

Judy leaned forward, suddenly quite overcome with curiosity. "What do you know, Ben? Tell me!" The cheetah made a loud groaning noise, his lips pressed tightly shut. Finally, he squeaked and twirled in his chair to face her again.

"Well, I just – you never know! It might be something special! Something… nice."

Judy's brows furrowed with confusion, before her eyes widened suddenly. "Wait, are you saying this is like – " she looked around before dropping her voice in a whisper, "like a … _date_?"

Clawhauser gave her an exaggerated shrug. "Mmmm, I don't know!" he said, smiling, before he whispered as well, his head dropped low to the desk. "But you deserve to treat yourself anyway. Have some fun with it!"

Judy leaned back from her perch, her lavender eyes wide and her cheeks flushed. Her mind wandered back to that night in the field and the night before that on the couch, causing her to run her hands over her face in a groan. All of those warm fuzzies had only led to more questions, all of which could probably be solved by a single conversation.

A potentially mortifying, terrible and friendship ruining conversation.

"Hellooo," Clawhauser poked her. "I can see you freaking out, so let me say again – You are precious and amazing and you deserve to have a nice night. So relax!" Judy peered up at the cheetah and let herself smile.

"Okay, maybe you're right," she said at last. "Oh, you know! Maybe I should go visit Nick's mom tomorrow and we can go visit some of the shops where she lives." She snapped her fingers, happy with her plan. Plus, Nick's mom might know something. She might score some details on this whole thing.

"What're you doing up there?"

Judy peered down to the see the red fox in question, sunglasses in place, as he'd just come from outside. "I'm going to visit your mom tomorrow!" Judy called down from the high desk. Nick made an affronted noise.

"Well, that's suspicious. Am I allowed to come?"

"Nope," Judy hopped down to the floor and shot him a smirk. "Ladies day. I also plan to use the time to find out your middle name, since you won't tell me."

Nick snatched off his sunglasses, panicked. "No, nonononono!" He grappled for a rebuttal, anything to stop her. "I'll – I'll call your parents and find out what _your_ middle name is!"

"It's Laverne. You lose."

Nick stared as Judy reached up and flicked an ear over her shoulder coyly before marching off. At his desk, Clawhauser leaned over and let the silence settle over Nick for a few seconds before suddenly –

"Awwwwwwwww - "

"Shut it," Nick pointed threateningly.

* * *

"So, what's the occasion?" asked Ella Wilde slyly. "For your night out with Nick, I mean."

Judy made a face at a blouse and put it back on the rack. "It's for my birthday," she admitted. "Well, and to get away from work a bit..." Another glance at the seemingly never-ending rack of clothes left her deflated. "I have no idea what to wear! I'm so bad at this."

"Don't despair, we'll find something just perfect," Ella wheeled herself around a rack. "Look for something that makes you happy. If your heart is happy, your face glows, and there's nothing prettier than that!"

"Oh, that reminds me," Judy giggled. "For blackmail purposes, what's Nick's middle name?"

Ella inspected something on the rack. "Piberius," she said, looking up with a laugh at Judy's wild snort. "I know, isn't that the strangest thing? His father came up with it, no idea why."

"Amazing," murmured Judy, amused. Finally, something crossed her fingers and the fabric felt pleasant and smooth. She pulled away a long dress, one with thin straps, a v-neck and a fun sunburst print in blues and greens, all of which kept it from looking too formal. It reminded her of the sundresses her mother wore often when she was younger.

"Ah, that is perfect! Try it on," encouraged Ella happily, and Judy dashed to the fitting room. A moment later, when she emerged, her pleased smile spoke for itself. Ella nodded appreciatively. "Beautiful. Or, as Nick would say, perfection." The elderly vixen paused before looking over Judy.

Judy touched the skirt and twirled a little. "I feel like a – a soft, twirly flower," she giggled, before she bit her lip in concern. "You sure it's not too much? Do you think – I mean, um," she cleared her throat. "Do you think someone might think it looks… nice?"

"Someone like Nick, you mean?" teased Ella, laughing gently at the flush that reached all the way to the tips of Judy's ears. "I think anyone with a bit of sense in their heads would know you look lovely."

 _Lovely._

Judy turned and looked in the full-length mirror and felt just a hint of pride.

"He cares a lot for you, you know," said Ella from behind her, tone wistful and soft. Judy's eyes widened and she turned, looking back at Ella, her hands still balled in the fabric of her dress. "And that's something a mother can always be happy about," murmured the vixen.

Judy felt her heart swell with adoration, and she turned to kneel in front of Ella's wheelchair. "I care about him, too. And I'm so happy I met you." Her small grey hands came up to rest against her chin, and she smiled up at Ella. "You can never have too many loved ones, I think."

With a tender sigh, Ella reached forward and stroked Judy's ears. "Wiser words were never spoken, dear Judy."

* * *

Later that night, Judy sat at her window, chin in her hand and her eyes looking to the dress hanging up on her closet door.

Ella's words echoed in her mind, and Judy silently reflected that it would be a mighty nice thing if her insides would stop flip-flopping all around every time she thought about tomorrow night. This was, in her opinion, quite a serious thing, not only because of the potential for embarrassment, but because the idea of losing even an ounce of what she had with Nick was heartbreaking. Gaining something, on the other hand, felt delightfully terrifying. Or terrifyingly delightful. She wasn't sure.

Being with Nick - particularly when it was just the two of them - made her feel as though she was wrapped up in a warm, fuzzy blanket.

A warm, fuzzy blanket that winked at her when no one else was looking, took her hand in his whenever she needed the comfort, and wrapped his tail around her when they fell asleep on the couch, leaving her with an entirely new set of feelings that went further and deeper than simple contentment.

Then again, thought Judy with despair, maybe everything she thought she'd felt with Nick before was just her inexperience talking.

With a huff, Judy let her arms drop to the windowsill and she lay her head against them, ears flopped over.

 _I have more important things to worry about right now,_ she told herself. Like the case at work. But even that involved Nick, and brought to mind all the things she admired about him. Again and again, the cycle played in her mind. Thinking about the upcoming evening, Judy felt the excitement return.

This was going to be fun, she told herself firmly. She didn't need to make it weird with her silly worries. Still, even her happiness at the idea of a special birthday night (which was a rare occurrence in the burrow) was tempered with self-doubt.

She could wear a nice dress and let herself enjoy her time out with Nick. But in the end, she was still just a workaholic bunny.

And even Maid Marian had been a beautiful fox.

* * *

Blissfully unaware of Judy's thoughts – and far too involved in his own self-criticisms – Nick returned to work the next day with the small box still in his pocket. He didn't plan to give it to her until that evening (if he even did), but he liked having it there, to remind him that it existed.

"Nick!"

The fox turned on his heel to see Judy standing in front of him. Normally, their mornings were laid-back and full of conversation, work-related and otherwise, but today they both teetered on their feet almost nervously.

"So, uh, I wanted to ask," Judy cleared her throat. "Well, you still haven't told me where we're going, and so I wondered about what to wear." She paused, biting her lip before asking with the smallest of smiles. "Is a dress okay?"

Nick's eyes widened a bit. "Uh, y – yeah, that'd be perfect, actually."

For whatever reason, this seemed to relax Judy. "Okay, well, good. Because I already bought it." She paused before adding with a smirk, " _Piberius_."

Nick groaned dramatically. "I will throw myself off the nearest cliff if I ever hear that name from your mouth again. No lie, Carrots. I will swan dive into a pit of fire." At Judy's fit of laughter, he exhaled loudly. "Okay, so, tonight. I'll come by your place and grab you and – " he paused, groaning even louder on the inside. _Damn it, Nick. At least pretend you're cool._ "That made it sound like I was going to kidnap you. Forget I said that."

The tension between them eased. "I'll be ready," she said softly, twisting her hands in front of her. "I'm excited! I'll see you tonight." She rushed off then, with her face caught in a shy smile, and somehow that made Nick feel a bit better.

"Yeah," he waved, letting his hand drop as he watched her walk away. "Tonight."

* * *

That evening, a slightly nervous red fox stood outside Judy's door.

"Tell me where we're going!" came her muffled voice.

Nick smirked at Judy's closed door. "Nope," he said, before checking his phone. "But it's not going to matter if you don't hurry up." At that moment, Judy's apartment door opened and she stepped out, her grey-furred cheeks bunched in a shy smile.

Nick's eyes widened. She'd mentioned the dress, but it was so far and away from her normal uniform, he could only stop and gape; in fact, he'd be damned if the entire ensemble wasn't the most distracting thing he'd ever seen. Even so, it was her brilliant smile that grabbed and held his unwavering attention.

"Is this okay?" she asked tentatively, mistaking his stare. "I can change!"

"No, no!" Nick reached forward, chuckling a bit to himself as he tried to recover, feeling a bit shy himself. "You look great. I mean," he tilted his head at her, smile softening, "I won't be able to look at anything else all night, but that's perfectly fine with me."

Judy laughed, tucking her head to hide her blush. "You look nice too," she mentioned with an unmistakable look of appreciation. Nick made a mental note to match his clothes more often. His usual green shirt had been replaced by a black button-up and khaki slacks, with a dark grey tie – one which he'd actually tied that day, and not six years ago - replacing his usual striped one.

"Ready?" he asked, extending an arm to her, hoping against hopes he looked calmer than he felt.

When Judy slipped her arm in his and looked up to him with a smile, he decided it didn't really matter. What mattered was how Judy felt – and in his humble opinion, she looked _quite_ happy.

* * *

Night was well underway by the time the pair arrived at the Rainforest District, but Nick kept their final destination a secret as long as he could. At last, he turned to Judy and made her close her eyes, leading her over one of the many lengthy rope bridges until they came to a tall platform in the trees, buzzing with activity. A few other mammals gave them odd looks as they passed, Nick leading Judy by the hand, but he dismissed them. It was enough to watch Judy react, eyes firmly shut, to every nuance of the environment around them, from the scents wafting through the air to the changing temperature as they climbed high in the trees.

Judy's ears perked up at the sound of other voices nearby, but Nick made her wait to open her eyes until he got them to their seats, perfectly situated above the bulk of the crowd.

"Okay, you can open them."

Judy opened her eyes and gasped, astonishment taking over her features as she turned in her spot, looking all around. Lights of all shapes and sizes lined strings carefully layered amongst the tree branches, all of which looped and sloped through the area with great leaves of varying shapes and flowers bursting with color. The pavilion on which they stood had been built around the base of a monstrously tall tree, so high in the sky the air felt different, cooler and warmer at the same time. Other platforms like it sat along the great tree, with spectators watching and pointing until Judy looked up, her eyes wide as shadows crossed overhead.

"Nick," she breathed out softly, a slow smile spreading over her face. "What is this?"

"The Earth Festival," he answered, secretly elated. "The Rainforest District hosts it every year, but this year…" he pointed, and Judy followed his gaze to a large stage, built right into the canopy of the trees, eclipsed by lengths of green leafy foliage. "They're putting on a special show."

Judy gasped and hurried to the edge of their platform, her hands grasping the railing as more shadows passed overhead, and when she looked up, she saw the shadows were mammals of all sorts swinging from branch to branch, flipping in tandem and tumbling through the air in perfect synchronicity. As the spectators watched, they maneuvered effortlessly through the air with stunning jumps and twists.

One performer, a black jaguar with his face painted in intricate, wild patterns, gracefully maneuvered down a vine and offered Judy a beautiful purple flower crown.

"Look, Nick!" She hurried back to his side and Nick chuckled, taking the crown from her and placing it between her ears. "This is amazing," she told him gleefully, settling close at his side.

"Oh, it hasn't even started yet," he told her, inwardly beaming with pride. Suddenly, flutes sounded and bells rang, and the stage came alive with performers, all decorated as the jaguar had been. Sounds of the rainforest grew and deepened, and as the lights flashed and the stage burst with energy, more performers leaped overhead and spectators of all levels looked up to see flower petals in shades of pink, purple, white and red float down from the treetops in heavy droves.

Judy gasped in delight and held out her hands, catching the petals even as they fell over both of them and filled the air like rain. The lights flickered and dimmed, and as they did so, paintings in neon appeared all around them, depicting all manner of mammals and landscapes in remarkable imagery. The platform on Nick and Judy stood became dark as the lights faded, but neon blues and oranges lit up behind them, casting the arena in an unusual, other worldly glow.

Turning to look back at Nick, Judy studied his features against the outline of the glow, and her heart raced. The music below faded to softer tones, and the acrobats overhead jumped and leaped around them, but all Judy could think about in that moment was how much she wanted to hug Nick.

So she did.

"Thank you for bringing me here," she said softly, smiling when she felt flower petals against her cheek as she gripped him. All of her earlier anxiety about the evening felt as if it had evaporated into the air. Her eyes lifted to his when she felt him return the hug before lifting a hand away and reaching in his pocket.

Beautiful music continued all around them, but Nick could've sworn the entire rainforest could hear his heart thumping against his chest. His fingers fumbled in his pocket for just a moment, but when he managed to look up and meet Judy's gaze again, he felt his body and mind calm. His hesitation from before faded away, seeing her happy face.

"Happy Birthday," he said simply, his voice quiet as he handed her the small box.

Judy's eyes widened, her lips parted as she took the small box from him and opened it. "Mom told me she shared something from a book with you, something you liked," Nick said, as Judy lifted the bracelet, a simple silver chain with a rectangular piece in the center bearing words in elegant writing.

 _It still grows_

 _Perhaps the greater_

"Just in case you need the reminder," he told her softly.

Nick watched as she curled the bracelet in her hands, and he wondered for a brief, terrifying moment if she even remembered the words' meaning. Then, she turned and slipped into his arms, her face buried in his shirt.

The magnificent show went on around them, but Nick was content to curl his arms around Judy and hide in the dark shadows of the festival, tucked safely away on their private platform.

* * *

It was hours before the pair finally pulled themselves away from the enchanting festival, which continued on in to the early hours of the morning. Only knowing the gondolas stopped running at a certain hour finally tore them away from their delight.

"Do you remember the first time we rode one of these together?" asked Judy, smiling as they stepped aboard one of the lifts and left the ground.

Nick smiled, wondering how he could ever forget it. "Of course."

The evening was late, and ahead of them, the vibrant lights twinkled far below. Judy stood ahead of Nick, her hands on the railings, the bracelet dangling at her small wrist. Behind her, Nick watched her silhouette from a few steps away, though when she turned and looked to him over her shoulder, he moved wordlessly from his spot. Her hand reached out and caught his, but instead of pulling him next to her, she gently tugged it behind her back and wound it around her waist.

Cool night air rushed by as Nick leaned close, moving both arms around her from behind and pulling her flush against his front. Their fingers linked, and for a long moment, the pair simply stayed that way, bodies close and warm.

Nothing in Nick's life, not a single day he could recall, had ever felt as sweet as that moment. When he felt Judy move, and her head turned to his, her purple eyes slowly moved up to his face and tangled him in the feelings that followed.

Without saying a word, Nick let go of one of her hands and lifted it to her jaw, tracing a tender line there for just the barest moment of self-control before he leaned close and caught her mouth with his.

The motion started out soft and gentle, tender and explorative, but as soon as Judy shifted in his arms with a breathless gasp, his limbs curled around her and the two became impossibly close, lost in the increasingly passionate kiss.

The kiss deepened, with scarcely a moment for air, though neither of them seemed to notice. Judy pressed up on her tiptoes to reach him, but Nick was already there, his own grip lifting her up so she could tie her arms around his neck and press deeply into the motions of their mouths. He heard her say his name, somewhere in the mystified haze of his mind, but everything around them – the air from the open gondola, the lights of the city flickering in the distance, the still nearby chatter of the rainforest – was simply a background to the overwhelming and crushing desire between the two.

Nick pulled Judy away from the railing, only breaking the kiss for the briefest of moments before Judy's back met the inside of the gondola, out of sight from the railing. Her body trembling, Judy reached for him and caught his shirt, pulling him forward, as if he'd had any hope of getting away. His lips met hers again, and this time the wall of the gondola braced Judy's back when Nick lifted her, his larger hands at her thighs, keeping her steady.

Her head lifted and their tongues brushed, causing a shudder to pass between them. The hand of Judy's not twisted in Nick's shirt reached up and curled at his neck, winding in the thick fur there as their bodies pressed close, scarcely a wisp of air between them. When Judy's legs tightened at his waist, Nick was forced to let go of one thigh and instead he pressed a hand hard against the wall of the gondola, claws curling tensely and cutting it into the paint.

At that moment, the gondola jerked slightly, and they both opened their eyes, lips parted as their chests heaved.

"What happened?" whispered Judy breathlessly.

Nick glanced up slowly, swallowing past the dryness in his throat. "I think we stopped," he murmured. Outside the gondola, the attendant called out.

"Anyone there?"

Nick and Judy looked to each other for a moment, before each burst into poorly stifled laughter. The fox let her drop gently to the floor and they quickly straightened their clothes, before Nick took Judy by the hand and they hurried off the gondola, much to the attendant's confusion.

"Sorry about that," Nick grinned happily to the bewildered gazelle. "Carry on."

"Yep!" Judy agreed as they dashed off. "You're doing a great job!"


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Note: Ha! I'm so glad you guys enjoyed the chapter. But there's still a lot more story to tell… so hold to your seats!

* * *

Judy Laverne Hopps had never read a romance novel.

However, if she _had_ read one, she couldn't imagine it giving her a more perfect evening to remember than the one she'd shared with Nick. And even though a romance novel might go a _bit_ further than their night had, Judy couldn't think of a single thing she'd change.

After walking hand-in-hand for over an hour after the festival, Nick had taken Judy back to her apartment, where they'd shared one last kiss, much shorter and a more bashful than the first.

Later that night, Judy took hours falling asleep, her excitement slow to ebb.

However, the next morning – removed from the romantic setting of the festival – brought with it a trickle of anxiety. The air outside was cold, grey and not at all inviting, and as Judy dressed for work and made her way to the station, she secretly began to wonder if the whole thing had been a dream.

Or maybe – even worse – what if it wasn't what she thought it was?

Unease mounting, Judy arrived before Nick (nothing new there) and sat at their shared desk, a pile of papers and folders in front of her. It was still early, and few others moved around the station, so Judy simply sat at her desk and stared.

Without the excitement of the festival and the passionate thrill of the evening, she suddenly felt very unsure of herself.

"Hey Carrots."

"Agh!" Judy shrieked, alarming Nick who stood next to the desk, coffee in hand. At her yelp, he tilted his head slowly, eyebrow lifted.

"Are you okay?" he asked, but Judy was already furiously working her hands over the various things on their desk, her motions a blur.

"Oh, yeah? Me? I'm doing great, wonderful, good morning, by the way – " Folders and files flew all over the desk, the shuffling of papers not quite drowning out Judy's nervous, borderline hysterical giggle as she began to affix the folders in a very curious way. Nick leaned against the desk and watched, swishing his coffee in one dark hand.

"Judy," he prodded gently. "You're burrowing."

"I'm – Whaaaaaaat? No, I'm not – Who's burrowing?" The bunny relentlessly scrambled to stack all the folders on their desk, even as she continued to mutter and ramble. "I'm – that's crazy – don't even know – totally wrong – just – organizing my folders! Like I always do! Aaaaand perfect."

Placing the last folder on top, Judy stuck her head in the desktop folder mini-fort she had made, effectively hiding her face from Nick's bemused expression.

"Still not burrowing," came her muffled voice.

Next to the desk, Nick watched and let her hide for just a few seconds before he set down his coffee and reached forward, removing the top binder so he could peer in her little structure and see her lavender eyes looking up at him.

"Right," he said, thoroughly unconvinced, before he lifted away the rest of the folders so he could see her again. Then he set down his coffee and pulled up the other rolling chair next to Judy, who turned her gaze to his reluctantly.

"What's wrong?" he asked, before going on hesitantly, "Is this …about last night?"

Judy glanced up to see his green eyes flicker to the floor, though she wasn't sure what that could mean.

"Well, I just…" Judy shifted in her chair, glancing around and secretly finding herself grateful it was still early and few officers were around. "I mean, I just – I didn't want to, um, assume… anything about your – well, about you." She bit her lip and looked down at her lap, totally missing Nick's look of surprise.

"I mean, I don't know what other – girls you – I don't know - take out on – um, _outings_."

"Since meeting you?" he questioned, eyebrows raised. "None."

"Or – who else you – _ahem_ , kiss – "

"My mother," he answered patiently.

"I – " Judy paused long enough to give him a familiar glare. "I'm serious!"

"Judy," Nick scooted forward and brought her chair close to his, something inside of his mind reeling at the fact that _she_ doubted _his_ feelings. She was worried – what? That he'd just wanted to have a good time? That maybe he had gone on another dates since meeting her? That he'd even had the power to think of anyone else since the day they'd met?

Now, looking at her troubled, embarrassed features, he realized that – oh, he should've learned this lesson already – his mother was right. One of the things he'd had yet to learn was how to show others he cared, usually because he actually didn't care at all.

But it was different with Judy. And what seemed totally obvious to him was probably still a mystery to her, if for no other reason than because he'd housed his personality and emotions in the center of a steel trap for the last thirty years.

"Hey," he said softly, reaching forward and taking her hands in his. His heart leaped when she immediately curled her fingers around his, though her face turned to his with an expression far too reminiscent of that day under the bridge for his liking.

"Did you have fun last night?" he asked at last, because it suddenly felt a lot safer to talk about her feelings, rather than his. Judy's eyes widened in surprise. No going back, Nick told himself firmly. Don't let what happened last night fade away, never to happen again.

"Yes," she answered truthfully. Nick's lips quirked at a smile.

"Do you want to go out again?"

"Yes," she answered again.

"Would you like to be my girlfriend?"

Judy squeaked. "Yes?" she choked out.

"Try not to sound so excited about it."

Judy blinked, before laughing suddenly, her tension no match for Nick's dry tone. "I – I just," she swallowed, looking down at their joined hands. "I just… didn't want to – I don't know," she flushed again, the rosy color evident under her fur. "I didn't want to think about something I enjoyed so much… only to realize I was the only one who felt that way."

Fear and affection made for a strange combination, but that was what intertwined in Nick's heart, leaving him with only the ability to stare at Judy's warm expression and wonder if he was really hearing her voice, or just what he had long imagined in his head.

"Is that… what you want? To be with me?" she asked, when he simply stared and didn't reply. Nick blinked out of his stupor, but when he fought for words – an embarrassing loss, considering it was one of his few skills – Judy tilted her head low to meet his gaze, and he could see the recognition of his struggle clearly reflected in her large eyes.

"How about we just do things the Nick Wilde way, huh?" she asked quietly, a soft smile making its way on her pretty grey face. "Nick, did you have a good time last night?"

The fox looked up at her and chuckled. "Yes."

She wiggled closer. "Do you want to go out again?"

He lifted his head and felt his chest expand fully. "Yes."

"Would you like to be my…" Judy blushed again, but her smile remained, "…boyfriend?"

Nick finally let himself relax into a real smile, one of his few. "Sure, why not," he said lowly, laughing at Judy's eye-roll. With a quick glance around the office, he tugged on her hands until they were knee-to-knee in their chairs, one thumb stroking over her hand in his.

"And by that I mean," he shifted a bit in his seat, fighting against the instinct to undermine the sincerity of his words with sarcasm. "I … admire you in every way you can possibly imagine." He met her gaze. "You and only you."

Judy's eyes widened, and for a moment, she seemed simply dumbstruck. Then her face split into a smile, one so bright and luminous, it put all her other wonderful smiles to shame. She let her head fall against the back of her desk chair, ears flopped over the edge, in such an unabashedly delighted and whimsical fashion, as if she was enthralled by his simple but heartfelt admission. It may not have sounded romantic to anyone else, but Judy – she just _knew._

"Good," she said, before they both fell silent, each secretly staggered by what had happened. Then Judy jumped up from her chair, quite suddenly looking like the first flower in spring. "Wow, we should do some work!"

Nick looked up at her and leaned against his chair, one arm propped up against the back in a relaxed pose that didn't do a damn bit of justice to the unfamiliar jubilance that floated his heart. Outwardly, he simply smirked and watched her with undisguised affection.

"If you insist," he remarked with a genuine smile.

Judy hurried away, an unmistakable e _xtra_ hop in her step that made Nick secretly squirm with pride. When she returned with the files they were to look over, they both sat at the desk and did their best to concentrate. It was a poor effort on both of their parts.

"Stop looking at me, Nick!"

"The only way you could know I was looking at you was if you were looking at me first," the fox noted casually from his side of the desk. Oh, god help him if anyone saw their adolescent behavior right now – especially his – but it was nearly impossible to squash.

He'd never in his life had such a hard time _not_ smiling.

At last, Judy gave up and picked up some of the files. "Take these to the lab, please," she ordered in her most deceptively sweet tones. "And by that, I mean go away and do something so I can maintain at least a little professionalism."

Nick took the files and stood with a chuckle. "Pfft, professionalism is so overrated. Besides, you know all I'm going to do is go bother Clawhauser and steal his food. Maybe go cover Bogo's door in Post-It notes."

"Good- _bye_ , Nick," said Judy pointedly, giggling when he winked at her and sauntered off to leave in her in peace. Once he was gone, Judy sucked in a deep breath, one last snicker escaping her before she cleared her throat and forced herself to look at the documents spread out on the desk.

Even looking at the Morehouse Murder case file wasn't quite enough to quell the bubble of happiness in her chest, though it certainly seemed to try. As her eyes scanned the evidence, they crossed over a note on the fur evidence from before. Lifting the paper, Judy read the notes carefully.

EVIDENCE:

FUR SAMPLE – COLOR, WHITE. ANIMAL – UNKNOWN. CONTAMINATED BY UNKNOWN SUBSTANCE.

Judy's brows furrowed. "Unknown substance?" she murmured aloud. What could possibly have happened at the crime scene to contaminate the fur with something the labs couldn't identify? Something common like dirt or body fluid should be obvious.

The wheels in her mind turning, Judy replaced the paper in her file and locked it away.

* * *

"This thing is so neat."

Nick looked over at Judy as they both settled down on the grass in Central Park, securely tucked away under the shading of some trees. Warm, sunny weather had drawn out nearly every citizen in Zootopia it seemed, but they'd finally managed to find an area not overrun with children playing ball or old couples walking the many paths.

"What in the – is that a _view master?_ " he questioned incredulously.

Next to him, Judy peered through the lens and flicked the switch on the side, which turned the picture on the inside with a swish-click noise. "Yep!" Judy answered, pausing in her perusal of the toy to point down the street. "I got it from one of those street vendors while you were getting food."

"You have a smartphone in your pocket," Nick pointed out, reclining on an elbow. "With all the images of the world available to you. And you want to look at a view master."

Judy lifted the toy again and continued to click through the pictures. "Some of us appreciate the simpler things in life," she told him loftily, eyes still hidden behind the toy. "And besides, all you use your phone for is taking pictures of your own face. Not a very effective use of such a brilliant tool, Mr. Wilde."

Nick raised a brow and gestured to himself. "Hey, I'm just trying to make sure I keep a good stock portfolio of modeling headshots. You know, for when an agency comes calling." He peered at her. "What kind of pictures does it have?"

"Something from a Donald Duck movie."

"Ooh, you know, I heard he was a jerk in real life."

Judy scoffed. "Celebrities," she muttered, clicking continuously through the pictures. "This is so cool. I can see how kids a long time ago would've loved these."

" _A long time ago_?" Nick exclaimed, making an exaggerated flourish at his heart. "Excuse you, Carrots. I had one of those toys."

Judy stopped her clicking and looked over at him with a very poorly hidden grin. "Oh," she squeaked, trying not to laugh. "I'm sorry."

Rolling his eyes, Nick shifted over to try and snatch the toy away, but Judy rolled away in the grass, laughing wildly as she tried to keep it away from him. "Give me that!"

"No! You don't get to make fun of my toy and then try to take it!"

The two grappled on the ground for a moment, but that ended when Judy lightly tossed the picture viewer out of reach and Nick found himself draped partially over her, Judy's back against the grass. Chuckling, Nick pulled back just a bit, though he let his torso remain against hers.

One hand reached up and touched her cheek, a motion that embarrassed and delighted them both.

It was enjoyable enough to lie next to each other, his arm over her as he looked down at her face, warm wind rolling over them. In fact, it was such a pleasurable, quiet moment, Nick nearly missed the troubling movements of a tigress nearby.

Judy, ever attentive, did not.

"Did that tigress just… shield her children from seeing us?" she asked, brows furrowed as the female tiger ushered her two cubs away from the nearby stone benches, casting an unpleasant frown at Nick and Judy as she did so.

Nick followed Judy's concerned stare and felt his stomach twist. After a moment of silence, he sucked in a deep breath and responded airily, "Actually, I think she was hiding her children from everyone else. Did you see how ugly those kids were? I'd be embarrassed, too."

"Nick!"

Judy shifted to face him again, but Nick immediately sought to distract her by reaching over and picking up her toy again, the uncomfortable notion looming in the back of his mind that a certain conversation with Judy might be necessary – and soon.

"Seriously," he said, looking over the toy. "This thing isn't worth two dollars. Whoever sold you this is a criminal."

Judy seemed to sense his efforts to distract her, but she allowed it, lying back against the grass again. "Well," she said with a smirk. "It takes one to know one."

"Very true," he noted wryly, but suddenly, Judy sat straight up, her eye wide. "What?"

"Nick," Judy turned to face him. "I think I just had an idea." She leaned forward, dropping her voice. "You know that fur sample? The contaminated one?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, the lab couldn't identify what was wrong with it, right? Which means maybe it's not something that happened at the scene. Maybe it's more than that… something related to the killer." She bit her lip, thoughts flashing fast and furious behind her eyes. "What we need is someone else to look at it."

"Someone …like a criminal," concluded Nick, before he nodded with an increasingly devilish smirk. "And lucky for us, we know exactly where to find one."

* * *

"Well, well," The uniformed police pair stopped in front of the jail cell, and Nick leaned against the bars with a folded arm. "If it isn't McDoug the Crime Ram! How's it hanging, buddy?"

The ram in question shot the pair of officers a heavily annoyed look from inside his cell. "What the hell do you two want?" he grunted, looking back to his book.

Judy folded her arms and observed him coolly. "We're here to make you an offer, Doug. We need your – eh, _expertise_ might be a strong word," she looked at Nick, who nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, let's call it your uncanny ability to circumvent the law while also putting to use that underfunded basement education you got while your parents abandoned you for days at a time."

The ram glared from his cell.

"Yeah, that sounds about right," Nick nodded. "Anyway, for helping us with a very short errand, you get – wait for it – a field trip out of your cell! Take a little car ride, get some fresh air."

"Yeah, right," Doug snorted. "Like I'd help you two idiots for just that."

"What if we talk to the judge? Get your sentence reduced?" tried Judy, but Doug simply went back to his reading. Nick and Judy exchanged glances, but then Judy, never one to give up, tried one last-ditch effort. "We'll take you to go get something to eat! You've got to be tired of prison food, right?"

Doug's head snapped up from his book. "I'm in."

* * *

"Where are we going?" asked the ram from the backseat of the police car. Judy glanced up at the rearview mirror.

"Your old lab. It's been in police custody for a while."

"I'm assuming you mean the one you two didn't blow up," grunted Doug from the back. "Was hoping you suits wouldn't even find it."

"Aww, I hate that for you," Nick tapped his sunglasses down his noise and shot Doug a smile from the passenger seat. "Don't worry, though. Thanks to the complete lack of organization in our department, your place has hardly even been touched. It's just sitting there, collecting dust, acting as a total waste of space. You know, kinda like you." He winked at Doug before looking forward again, ignoring the ram's angry grunt.

They arrived at the apartment buildings and stepped out together, Doug still in handcuffs. However, that didn't stop Nick from pulling out his taser gun, which he held very close to the ram's exposed neck.

"And by the way," Nick said lowly, as Judy fished for the keys to open the apartment door. "If you even think about trying to escape, I'll taser you so hard, you'll wake up and convert to a new religion."

The ram eyed the gun with an unmistakable hint of apprehension and remained silent.

The trio entered the apartment and Doug looked around, pausing for a moment to take in the familiar environment. Then, with a huff in Nick and Judy's direction, he left the living room and went down to the end of the hall, where he swiped a hand to reveal a keypad. Eyebrows raised, Nick and Judy looked at each other in surprise as the ram entered into a room hidden in the back of the apartment.

It was a near replica of the lab they'd destroyed in the train car. "What?" asked Doug at their expressions. "You thought that trash heap was my only lab? I'm a professional. Now where's the sample?"

Judy stepped forward and gave him the fur enclosed in a small baggie, which he took a look at before plopping heavily into a chair. Then he tossed the baggie onto a table and scooted over, peering into a mini-fridge before crowing with delight, "Ah, my root beers are still in here!"

He cracked one open and downed the whole thing in one gulp, earning an eye-roll from Nick.

"Alright," Doug belched once. "Let's get to this. Now," he looked over at Judy, dutifully ignoring Nick. "What'd the guys in your lab tell you?"

"Just that it's contaminated, but they couldn't tell us why. They said it might be something one of the officers who collected it did, but I don't think that's the case," she told him. Doug hummed and took out a few flasks and beaker, as well as one very large, expensive looking microscope. He pulled out the hairs and examined them against a slide, mumbling to himself as he did so.

Nick and Judy watched in silence for almost fifteen minutes as Doug moved around the lab, taking a look at some different things before turning to the sample. Then he gathered a few ingredients and poured them together in a beaker, which formed a purple liquid.

Taking one hair from the sample, he dropped it into the beaker and watched it dissolve.

"Hey, what in the – " Nick stepped forward, but Doug only dusted his hands and turned in his chair to face them, looking rather nonplussed.

"Yeah, that's about what I thought. Alright, here's the deal," he said, in tone that made it clear how much he was dumbing this down for them, "You're dealing with something called chemical crypsis. It's a substance harvested from one of those creepy reptiles on the islands far away from here."

"What does it do?" asked Judy eagerly.

"Scent camouflage, basically," said Doug. "It's a naturally occurring substance in those crawlies, but it's been harvested as a black market item for a long time. Definitely safe to say it's your criminal's fur, considering I doubt there's any other reason someone might want to disguise their scent. S'one of the only ways to keep someone from identifying your species."

Nick and Judy looked at each other. "See?" said Nick, pointing. "Why can't those idiots in the lab tell us this much?"

"Gee, Nick, I _wonder_ why the guys in the lab don't ever want to help us out!" Judy said sarcastically.

"Well, for one, they're too busy being useless."

Judy ignored him and turned back to Doug. "Is this an easy thing to get a hold of?"

"Not really," Doug admitted. "And it's also not that easy to use. It has to be diluted and combined with a few other ingredients in order to apply it without burning your skin off. It's pretty dangerous, actually. Which means you're probably dealing with someone who has at least a decent understanding of chemistry."

"Great," Judy muttered. "Couldn't get a dummy murderer. No way, not us."

"Hey!" Doug jumped to his feet. "I did my part. I want my meal, and I want it from Corgioli's."

Nick made an affronted noise. "Are you serious? That's like a five star restaurant!"

"Yeah, Doug," Judy folded her arms. "We were thinking more like fast food."

"Well, too bad," said the ram smugly. "You didn't specify. And I want Corgioli's."

* * *

An elegant atmosphere. Candle-lit tabletops. Serving staff dressed in fine outfits.

And sitting in a booth across from two uniformed police officers, a ram in prisoner stripes shoveled food into his mouth with reckless abandon, well into his third plate, with absolutely no consideration for the mess, his overly loud slurping disturbing every fine dining patron around them.

Reaching forward, Nick picked up a breadstick and broke it in two, handing half to Judy. A few moments passed before he glanced at her.

"This was not in the job description," he informed her stoically.

* * *

"Hey, feel free to get my help again," called out Doug as Nick slammed the cell door closed once more. "Especially if the arrangement is the same!"

"Yeah, right," Nick locked the door. "The next time I take someone out to a nice restaurant, they better be a lot prettier than you."

* * *

The next few days became devoted to investigating the various sources of the chemical Doug had mentioned, but he was right – it wasn't easy to find.

As Nick and Judy spent another hour flipping through various potential contacts, Fangmire appeared at their desk and jabbed a thumb in the direction of Bogo's office. "Chief is looking for you two," he told him, before wandering off. Nick and Judy glanced up and exchanged looks.

"What did we do?" asked Judy, brows furrowed.

"No idea. Wasn't my fault this time, though." Nick followed her to Bogo's door and after a quick knock from Judy, they bothered entered Bogo's office and took seats in the overly large chairs in front of the equally oversized desk.

Chief Bogo observed them grimly, and Nick immediately felt his hackles raise defensively. "I've asked you both here today because something has been brought to my attention," Bogo said at long last.

"Something… good?" asked Judy hopefully.

"No," he said flatly, looking between them. Strangely, he seemed a bit reluctant to speak, but at last, he went on in a somewhat distracted tone, "I've been told you two are in a … relationship."

A few heartbeats passed in silence.

"Well," said Judy slowly. "We are partners! That tends to, heh, have a little comradery going on – "

"A _romantic_ relationship," interrupted the buffalo.

Quelling his panic, Nick leaned forward and waved his hands. "Only if you consider the righteous distribution of justice to be romantic, sir." At the buffalo's glare, he fell back against the chair and continued dryly, "Who am I kidding, you probably do."

"Sir," Judy glanced worriedly at Nick. "I, uh – well, I don't know what you heard – "

"It isn't against the rules, Chief." Nick straightened in his chair and looked directly at Bogo. "I looked it up."

"Nick!" Judy's eyes widened and her cheeks flushed under her fur.

The fox shot her a quick apologetic look. "Hey, I know we agreed to keep things strictly professional at work, but we're not actually breaking any regulations."

"It's not about the regulations," Bogo cut in. "It's about public image."

The two smaller mammals looked at him in surprise. Grunting in discomfort, the buffalo shuffled papers as he spoke, obviously looking for any way to distract himself from the conversation. "After what happened with the Night Howlers case, you two are very much in the public eye. You are _supposed_ to be exemplary Zootopia citizens."

"What do you mean, sir?" asked Judy, brows scrunched in confusion. The buffalo's discomfort seemed to grow, and despite the fact that Nick knew damn well where he was going with this, he remained silent. Let the squirming oaf explain it to wide-eyed Judy, whose grey-furred features were becoming increasingly concerned.

"What I mean is – the type of relationship you two have is traditionally …frowned upon. And there are those who don't wish to encourage such a mixture among Zootopians."

Nick cut in. "Chief, I've lived in Zootopia my entire life, and I _know_ I've seen interspecies relationships before."

"Between a fox and a rabbit?" countered the Chief. "A predator and a prey?"

The fox in question clenched his jaw tightly.

Judy looked over at Nick and his rapidly darkening expression. "But – wait, no, I don't understand at all. Chief Bogo, are you really saying that a predator species and a prey species can't be together? After everything we went through to show the citizens here how unfair that kind of prejudice is?" She shook her head rapidly, flapping her ears. "No, that can't be true. Nick and I – We're like the faces of interspecies relations, the mayor even uses us to promote fairness and acceptance and – and – equality!"

"None of that matters to them, Judy," said Nick bitterly. "Promoting something like unity and loving your neighbor helps them out in the public sector, because it keeps the peace. But as soon as that progressive thinking starts to translate into something they _personally object_ to, that's when it becomes an issue again." He waved an arm emphatically. "Welcome to Zootopia – the land of forward thinking, so long as it looks the way you want it to and your beliefs are the only ones that matter."

"Romantic relationships move far beyond the acceptable parameters of interspecies relations, particularly those involving prey and predator," Bogo went on. "How would you or anyone else explain that to small children?"

" _What children?"_ exclaimed Nick. He looked around the office. "I don't see any children!"

"Exactly!" snapped Bogo. "Interspecies relationships cannot produce children, and that is yet another reason why the higher-ups feel they should not be encouraged by two of the most highly visible mammals in Zootopia."

"Right, because Zootopia has such a population issue right now," deadpanned Nick.

"Look, Wilde," snarled Bogo, his irritation leaking through his reluctance. "You and Hopps here can smile and wave and work together every single day, but that does not change the fact that you two are biologically, mentally and culturally different, from the day you were born."

"By all means, Chief," said Nick sardonically, "explain to us the fundamental differences between the penis and the vagina while you're at it, because in case you missed it, that's something else we don't share in common."

Judy put her face in her hands. "Nick, please."

"What he's saying is ridiculous, Judy!"

She looked up at Bogo, her eyes shining. "I don't understand, Chief. How can it be wrong to show how much we care about each other? What's wrong about any two mammals who love each other, no matter how different they are?"

Nick looked over at her, eyes wide, but he said nothing.

Chief Bogo looked away from her forlorn expression and simply hunched his enormous shoulders. "There's nothing I can do, Officer Hopps. Either you and Wilde discontinue your relationship or I will be forced to fire one of you."

"But Chief!"

"Fine," Nick fell back against his chair. "Fire me."

Judy looked over at him with a soft cry. "Nick, no!"

"Judy, this job means way more to you than it does to me. Let Bogo fire me, I don't give a damn."

"I need you here, Nick! Chief," Judy whirled to face Bogo again, her every motion desperate. "Please don't do this. Nick and I are making progress on the Morehouse case, I need his help!"

"I don't have to fire either of you," growled the buffalo. "Not if you agree to discontinue your relationship!"

"Judy," Nick turned sharply to her. "Do you want to break up?"

The bunny blinked, her eyes wide. "Nick…"

"I'm not saying I want to," he said more gently, gesturing to himself. "I'm asking if you want to."

Judy glanced at Bogo for a moment before immediately shaking her head. "No, Nick. Of course not."

"See," Nick ticked his head in Bogo's direction. "We don't want to break up. Fire me. I'm tired of paying taxes anyway."

"No!" Judy protested again, but Bogo, instead of firing Nick, became flustered.

"I – Well – Perhaps we can – "

Nick stood up in a flash. "I knew it! You don't want to follow through with your threat, you're just trying to get us to do what you want!" He lifted his head. "Or better yet, what the city council wants, right? Because I can honestly tell you'd rather be anywhere else in the world than here in this office right now, talking to us about our _romantic relationship."_

At Bogo's silence, Nick shook his head, his eyes narrowed. "Figures. They don't want us fired, Judy. And they don't want us to show that prey and predators are equals, either." He sighed and waved a dismissive hand at Bogo. "They want everyone to sing and dance and love each other, but only if it's the _right_ way. The kind that doesn't step on anyone's sensibilities and old fashion values."

At last, Nick held up both hands. "You know what, Bogo. I think I want to take the rest of the day off."

The buffalo grunted. "You need to fill out a request off form," he said, his words barely finished before Nick snatched a form off Bogo's desk, slapped it loudly on the wood, grabbed a pen and wrote 'N.W.' in large letters over the entire form. Then he slid it roughly in Bogo's direction and raised both brows.

"Well?" he asked mockingly.

Bogo glared at Nick for a long, hard moment before his features drooped with exhaustion and he simply waved him off. "Fine. Approved."

"Great," snapped Nick, snatching his sunglasses off his head and sliding them on before walking out of the office. Judy bit her lip and then slipped off her chair, edging to the tall desk so she could stand on her tiptoes. She reached for the form Nick had scrawled over and wrote with her carrot pen at the bottom, in careful, neat letters – JUDY HOPPS.

She slid it slowly back in Bogo's direction and waited.

"Approved," he muttered tonelessly.

"Thank you, sir," she whispered before hurrying out of the office.

Outside, in front of the ZPD's swinging doors, Nick stood with his shades obscuring his eyes and the rest of his visible features set in hard lines. Judy walked up quietly behind him without saying anything, but Nick knew she was there.

He exhaled loudly. "That was immature, I know," he said, shaking his head at the ground. "I couldn't help it."

Judy sighed and moved in front of him, one small grey reaching out to touch his. "I feel so foolish," she admitted softly. "I really thought – after everything we did, I don't know. That others would just feel like we did. That they'd see… " she tilted her head, her ears falling to the side.

Nick stepped forward and brushed a hand over her fallen ears. "That two grown mammals are perfectly capable of making their own decisions and shouldn't have to deal with everyone else's thoughts on it?"

She twisted her lips in a grimace. "Yeah," she murmured.

"Yeah, well, we probably should've known prejudice wouldn't just disappear overnight," he admitted, dropping his hand and slipping it in his pocket.

The pair fell silent for a moment. "Judy," Nick straightened from the pillar and reached out to touch her hand again. "I know I put you on the spot back there, and I should've let you say more… so if you – " he inhaled shortly, the effort of it catching painfully in his chest. "If this is too much for you, being with me, I mean…" He trailed off, afraid to go on, because his voice was in danger of cracking at the thought of voicing the fear that had plagued him since he first realized how he felt about Judy.

He managed to speak at last. "I can understand if being with me isn't worth dealing with all the crap the others are going to give you. All the hate, all the names. It's probably only going to get worse."

He closed his eyes behind his sunglasses. "You've never even really had a serious boyfriend. You shouldn't have to put up with this. So if it's too much for you… I – well, I understand."

Judy fell silent for a few moment of thought. Then she stepped a little closer to Nick.

"Maybe it would be too much," she said softly, "if I had to deal with it alone." Her whiskered cheeks lifted in a smile. "But I don't. I have you." As she spoke, she reached up and lifted his sunglasses, so she could meet his gaze. Nick's lips quirked.

"And I would consider myself lucky to deal with this every single day for the rest of our lives, so long as it meant I was with you," she told him bashfully. Nick's smile grew in earnest, and suddenly, Judy flushed furiously under her fur. "I mean," she stumbled on, "Not that I think we're going to get married or anything!"

"Mmhm."

"Because, I mean, I wasn't proposing that we – Oh, god, why did I use that word?" She slapped her hands to both cheeks. "I just meant – oh, just – why am I still talking?" she shrieked, before snapping her hands to her side and shoving her chin against her collarbone, horrified gaze on the ground. "Just ignore me."

Nick reached forward, tipping one finger under her chin and slowly lifting it until she was looking at him again, his old smile back in place.

"Never," he murmured, before leaning forward and kissing her.

The two parted after a moment and Judy relaxed, a breathless smile crossing her features. Nick remained close and brushed her jaw affectionately. "Well, would you look at that," he said quietly. "We kissed in public and society didn't collapse."

Judy glanced around. "Nope," she agreed with a smile. "Looks perfectly intact to me."

They moved apart and took one another's hands, digits curling close. "Who knows," said Judy with a cheery laugh, already returning to her usual sunny optimism. "Maybe in ten years, relationships like ours won't even be a big deal anymore!"

"Maybe," muttered Nick, wrapping one arm around her securely. "And then this city can find something else to be stupid and judgmental about."

"You foxes are always so pessimistic," remarked Judy with a giggle. It fell away as she glanced back at the station. "What should we do about work? We still have more research to do on the case…"

Nick tapped his shades back over his face. "We'll figure it out tomorrow," he said, leading her by the waist as they turned away from the building.

"Today's our day off."

* * *

Author's Note: Obviously, that last conversation was adapted from my one-shot. I felt like it needed to happen in this story, and I liked the way that one came out. So voila! Adapted for the purposes of this story.


	7. Chapter 7

Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews, guys! And also, thanks to Beamauls for being a very helpful beta reader!

* * *

Nicholas P. Wilde reclined on his couch, arms behind his head and tail hanging off the cushion so that the tip swept the floor.

The last few days had been uneventful, mostly consumed with research and meeting with other officers to see about their leads. It hadn't led to much so far, and now, as Nick relaxed in his apartment, the investigation fell away from his mind and his thoughts returned to the conversation with Bogo.

The truth was, Nick had expected the conversation all along, but he'd hoped – an unusual thing for him – that it might take a little while. Maybe, he'd pondered to himself after that wonderful date night with Judy, the universe would give him a break and allow them just a few weeks together before everyone else (rudely) got involved.

But no, of course not.

And he wasn't sure who'd told on them, but if he ever found out, he was going to think of the snarkiest, most awfully nefarious way to get revenge on them. Not that it mattered, because Bogo would have found out eventually anyway, but it made Nick feel better to think about the potential for blame.

Judy didn't deserve to get blindsided like that.

He'd had a whole talk prepared, one in which he gently laid out the possibilities for what might happen when others learned of their relationship. Judy didn't need to be catered to or babied, but there were things she simply didn't know to expect, and that wasn't her fault.

For example, never once had Nick mentioned to her that the other (mostly male) officers teased him about her whenever they got the chance. And it wasn't like Clawhauser's friendly jests either, but instead jokes, comments and jabs concerning her tiny bunny nature that would've sent Judy into a fury to hear. For the most part, Nick ignored them, or turned the comment around in an insult that burned them right back.

In the end, he wasn't surprised that someone had figured out they were really together now, nor did he find himself at all shocked that one of those gossipy assholes had told Bogo.

Shifting onto his back and looking up at the ceiling, Nick exhaled quietly.

 _Whatever,_ he thought in his usual vein. It didn't matter what those idiots joked or teased, and it didn't matter what Bogo said, because Nick had made it a point to ensure that he wasn't really allowed to fire either of them, not for that.

There was only one thing that mattered, and that was the very small, concentrated group of mammals Nick counted amongst his loved ones, blood-related and otherwise. Nick's lips quirked at the thought, and he let the conversation with Bogo fade from his mind.

"Oh – Hot!"

Judy bounced around the couch and hurried to drop a bowl of popcorn on the coffee table before she picked up a handful and tossed it in her mouth, cheeks puffing instantly with corn kernels. Nick tilted his head to look over her appreciatively as she giggled, crunching down on the popcorn before taking another handful and lying down on the couch with him.

They easily fit side by side on the cushions, and Nick peered down at her as she curled close at his side and offered him some popcorn. Nipping it from her hand, Nick munched on his own helping before he dropped against the cushions again. One arm wound comfortably around Judy's torso and pulled her close, hugging her against his front as he tucked his head over hers.

If anything about Nick and Judy's behavior together at work had changed, he couldn't think of it. On the clock, they were partners, and even Nick knew better than to let their new found status change that. However, away from the stressful environment of the station, and out of sight from others, their evenings had shifted from solitary nights at home to moments like this, curled close together, not afraid to make those little touches or embraces that were so carefully monitored everywhere else.

At least here, in the sanctuary of Nick's apartment, they didn't have to worry about what anyone else thought, and the days that had followed that night in the Rainforest District had shown Nick that what he had with Judy at that moment was everything he'd wanted it to be.

The one bedroom apartment on Cypress Lane was a microcosm of the kind of world they wanted to live in. And it was enough.

The thought of what they might encounter from others, further than the awkward conversation with Bogo, made Nick pull Judy tighter still. She glanced up and peered over her shoulder at him curiously, but he simply tucked his muzzle behind her head, uncaring that he couldn't see the movie they were supposed to be watching.

Judy didn't ask the reason for his uncharacteristic clinginess. Instead, she turned back to the tv and placed one of her smaller hands over his, linking their fingers together.

Eventually, his tense grip on her loosened and relaxed.

* * *

"… got some mugging going on down in Burrows area, going to send out a few of you to check on that today. See me afterwards for your specific assignments," Bogo droned on from the head of the conference room, though it was safe to say that almost no one – with the notable exception of Judy Hopps – was even listening.

The exceptional bunny chose that moment to peer at her partner, who sat next to her with a pen and notepad in hand.

"Nick," she hissed. "Are you _doodling_?"

"Of course not, Carrots. I'm taking extensive and detailed notes." Leaning over, Judy peered at the various drawings with her lips pursed in disapproval, and so Nick continued,"… using ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, obviously."

"Wow, I would certainly love to share in your brilliance. Maybe you should let me take a peek," she countered before making a grab for the notebook. Meanwhile, Bogo finished whatever he was saying and stepped away from the podium and left the front of the room, causing Judy to groan. "Great, Nick! I missed what he was saying!"

"Oh, well, maybe you should've been paying more attention," said Nick primly, "And can you _not?_ Bogo hasn't bothered us in over a week, and I'd like to keep from – " the two continued to half-heartedly swat at one another, " – attracting his – attention – so – "

"Hopps!" The buffalo in question stood in front of them very suddenly. "Wilde!"

They froze in mid-struggle.

Looking between them with a deep scowl, Bogo waited what seemed a ridiculously long, tense moment before speaking. Finally, he said, "I expect an updated report on the Morehouse case on my desk by noon. Is that understood?"

Judy shoved Nick away and he tumbled off the chair with a shriek. "Yes, sir! We'll have that for you."

"Ow," was Nick's response from the floor.

Bogo stomped off, and Nick climbed back up, dusting himself off. "Oh, well, that was – surprisingly uneventful," he noted, watching Bogo as he disappeared. "Hey, any day we don't get fired is a good day, right?"

Judy hopped off the chair. "Wow, that's an uncharacteristically optimistic outlook coming from you," she noted wryly, pushing open the door and leading them both back to their desk.

"Mm," Nick took a seat in one of their chairs. "Maybe you're finally rubbing off on me, Carrots. Pretty soon I'll just sing away all my troubles and we'll be good to go."

"Speaking of troubles," Judy picked up their casefile and bit her lip. "We're not going to have much new information to report to Bogo. We still don't know where to find that chemical Doug told us about. And so far, that's our only real lead. If we can just figure out who's supplying it, maybe we can get more information on the killer." Frowning, she cast a look at Nick.

"Are you sure you don't know anyone who might deal this drug? I mean, even when you were, you know, hustling?"

Nick looked offended. "Hey, I know I was a criminal, but there's a big difference between scamming idiots for money and selling illegal drugs," he said, a bit more hotly than he intended. At Judy's instant look of shame, he pulled back on his ire. "I – Sorry."

"No, no. I shouldn't have assumed, you're totally right," she shook her head quickly.

Leaning back in his chair, Nick glanced around the station before sighing quietly and leaning forward, speaking in low tones, "Look, I had a few run-ins with some dealers when I was a teenager and I very quickly realized that no matter how bad off I got, I never wanted to be a part of that circle. They don't play, okay? They're like," he paused and huffed. "They're dangerous, Fluff."

The bunny he knew so well looked him over with that calculated gaze of hers, the one which reminded him that she was the same young rookie cop who had shoved a case of evidence into his hands and told him to leave her, injured and alone, to the mercy of mammals who'd wanted to kill her.

"This killer is dangerous," she said at last, her arms folded over her protective vest. "And if this is what we have to do to stop him, that's what we're going to do." Nick fell silent at that, partly to take his time admiring her, and partly to reevaluate his sanity, because being in any kind of relationship with Judy Hopps had to be hazardous to his health.

Heart attack before he was forty. It was a damn near certainty.

"Hey," Judy turned to face him. "Doug mentioned you can get this thing on the black market, right? I know that's not a physical place, so how exactly does it work?"

Drawn out of his thoughts, Nick blinked at her thoughtfully before shrugging one shoulder. "It's more like a social network," he told her with a quirk of his lips. "Some of the contacts are online, but there's still plenty of face to face dealing going on."

Something struck him in that moment, and he sat up straighter in his chair. "But you know, there is a place where a lot of that crowd likes to gather. And I think I can get us some help with keeping out of sight when we get there, something to avoid drawing attention."

He looked up at Judy, studying her face for a moment as he evaluated what he wanted to do.

At last, he stood up from the desk. "I've got to make a few calls."

* * *

Two days later, the plan was set in motion.

"Aren't we going to look a little suspicious?" she asked as Nick led her on foot through downtown Zootopia. Glancing back at her from behind his sunglasses, Nick took her hand and squeezed it.

"Suspicious is the name of the game where we're going," he told her. He didn't seem at all excited about it, but it was hard to read anything about his expression at the moment, with his shades in place and a cap pulled over his head, ears poking through the top.

They traveled the streets for almost thirty minutes before turning into an alley way between two shops, moving around the back and at last stopping at an empty square lot. Looking around curiously, Judy fought the effort to anxiously thump her foot.

Then, as she watched, the fox stooped down and grasped a concrete lid, which he pulled away with a grunt of effort. Standing again, he observed her thoughtfully before stepping forward and putting both of his hands on her arms. He spoke calmly enough, but there was definitely a recognizable unease in his movements.

"Before we go down there, I need you to promise me something," he told her, bringing Judy to full attention. "Do not, under any circumstances, tell anyone down here we are cops. I mean it, Judy. If you do, it could get us killed. Only the guy we're meeting knows, and he's not going to tell anyone."

Judy peered down at the square hole. "Nick, I've got it. You already warned me about all of this, remember? But hey, what if someone recognizes us?"

Nick pulled her scarf from around her neck and looped it over her head, tucking her ears underneath the material and then tying it around so he could tug it up to cover part of her face. "Everyone here tries to keep to themselves. Just avoid eye-contact and you should be fine."

Nodding slowly, Judy reached up to make certain her scarf was secure before she took in a deep breath. "Alright, I understand. But wait," she grabbed Nick's arm. "Who is the guy we're meeting? You never said you found the dealer."

"I didn't," he said, moving to the manhole. "But my contact did. Come on."

* * *

It took far longer than Judy had anticipated to reach the bottom of the ladder, and when she dropped to the dark floor below, her bare feet splashed in a few inches of grimy water. Nose wrinkling, Judy pulled her feet out, only to discover that the water was everywhere and there was no escape from it.

Nick closed the entryway above and the area was instantly eclipsed in darkness.

"We'll get to some light soon," he told her, taking her hand. "Until then, just stick close to me. And try not to trample my tail, while you're at it."

Her mind racing, Judy let Nick lead her through what she assumed was some kind of sewer tunnel. At first, she thought the only sounds around them were those echoing off the streets above, but soon her sensitive ears picked up on low voices ahead.

The pitch-black tunnels opened up in front of them, and as Nick and Judy sloshed through the ever-present water on the floor, an intersection of open area appeared, and dim light from fires and sparse lamps threw their surroundings into focus.

"Oh my god," she murmured in disbelief. There was no way Nick's warning could have done justice to what she saw now.

Mammals of several different species spotted the subterranean area, each alike in their hunched postures, withered expressions and tattered clothes. Some crowded around barrels housing fires, while others lounged on dingy mattresses or blankets, pushed up against the wall in some semblance of a bunk area. Buckets occupied corners, and the smell left no mystery on their use. Water dripped from the ceiling and stuck to the floor, and although some areas had less water than others, the entire floor was grimy and damp.

"I didn't expect to see so many. What are they doing in the sewers?" whispered Judy as Nick tugged her along, and soon she saw that the other tunnels branched off and even more mammals lived in those. Each time they passed someone, they were either ignored or fearfully shifted away from.

Nick glanced back at her, still wearing his shades and hat. He'd been right about their disguises. They hardly looked any shiftier than anyone else down there. "Technically, these are the spillways for all the water that comes into the city from the reservoir. But if you mean why there are squatters down here," he paused, before looking around with a grim expression.

"Well, they come from different places. Some of them are addicts, some are criminals hiding out. And a lot of them are just homeless, don't have anywhere better to go."

Judy's brows furrowed deeply, her lavender eyes darting around the area as she watched a tiger with sunken eyes swat at nothing in particular. "But why down here? I mean, surely the city government would do something to help them if they knew?"

Nick took a moment to envy her optimism before he asked, "And what would the local government do? Rehouse them up on the surface?" He shrugged uneasily, still holding her hand even though she could now see well enough to walk. "Even if they wanted to spend the time and money to do that – which, spoiler alert, they don't – what neighborhood in Zootopia would welcome them? Look around you, Judy."

The pair paused, and Judy did just that. As they looked, mammals moved morosely with too-skinny, heavily weathered bodies, occasionally snapping in a borderline feral manner any time another animal came too close. Two panthers in the corner came to blows very suddenly and quickly, and when one of them was struck down – unconscious, Judy hoped – the other moved on, and no one seemed to notice.

The sight of it sent a shudder down Judy's spine.

Shaking his head, Nick continued on, tugging on her hand. "The city council knows they're down here, and they let it happen because honestly, this is exactly where they want them. Out of sight and out of mind."

They came to another intersection, and a terrible weight settled in Judy's heart when she realized just how big these tunnels were, and how they were nearly filled with down and out citizens. "How do they live down here in the waterways? Wouldn't it flood when the city piped in water?" she asked.

"It does," Nick answered, "But I think it only happens in sections, and they're been down here for so many years, they've got the schedule memorized. I'm pretty sure they just pick up and move when the waterways open, and then move back in when it's over."

"That sounds awful," murmured Judy. Squinting against the darkness, which dropped in and out of view of the dim lighting from the fires, she pushed hard at the water growing deeper around her ankles. It wasn't as much of a problem for Nick, who was taller, but it was really slowing her down. "How long until we reach your contact?"

"A little ways," he told her, before he took a moment to look at her. Then he added reluctantly, "And he's my cousin, actually. He's … been down here for a while." Before Judy could think of a proper response to this news – though there may very well have not been one – Nick was moving again. "I'm not exactly sure which area he stays in, but we'll find him. He knows we're coming, so he should be awake already."

"Awake?" repeated Judy curiously. "Why wouldn't he be awake? It's nearly four in the afternoon."

Nick brushed aside a curtain that acted as a doorway. "Foxes are mostly nocturnal," he mentioned offhandedly, and Judy hesitated in her trek. A memory returned to her, the first day she and Nick had met. The elephant ice cream shop owner had snapped at Nick as soon as he'd come into the shop. _I don't know what you're doing skulking around during daylight hours…_

"I never really thought about that," she admitted with more than a little shame. "But you're always awake during the day."

"Mm, why do you think I drink so much coffee?" he asked, not looking back at her, though he did smirk a little as he looked forward. "My body _hates_ me." Judy reached up a hand, ready to protest that they could switch to night-shifts if that made things easier for him, but he stopped at that moment and she fell quiet, instantly alert.

"Hey!" Nick called into the small area. He didn't have to say anything more. A voice sounded behind them.

"Right here," came the gruff tones, and Nick and Judy turned just in time to see a red tail disappear behind one of the dingy, hole-filled curtains that served as doors. Following it, Nick and Judy ducked beneath the cover and stepped into a small bedroom-like area.

A bed raised on milk crates sat just barely above the floor, which was just as sodden here as everywhere else in the canals, and might have even housed more water than the first area they'd come into. An old waterlogged shelf stood tall in the back, with some layers missing, but two or three of which housed various ratty looking knick-knacks and toiletries. On one small table in the corner, a radio played some music Judy didn't recognize.

And in the center of the room, far to the back, stood a fox.

Judy looked to Nick, and as he reached up and took off his shades, she noticed an unmistakable unease in his countenance. Sadness mixed with nostalgia, if she'd been forced to give it a name.

"Hey, Alec," he said to the other fox, his tone light.

Judy looked back. Alec was a red fox like Nick, but his fur had long ago lost its sheen and was now heavily matted and damaged in many places. He was terribly skinny, which was easy enough to see as he wore his button-up shirt open, exposing his ribs, the thinness of his fur leaving them visible to the naked eye. He wore a pair of cargo pants which had been roughly repurposed into shorts, most likely to avoid dragging through the water underfoot.

He couldn't have been that much older than Nick, if at all, but his features sagged noticeably, and his eyes – red where Nick's were green – were rimmed with circles so deep, they read clearly even under his fur. As Judy watched, the other fox took out a cigarette from a pack and lit it, taking the moment to evaluate them both. When it was lit, he pocketed the pack and extended a hand to Nick, who shook it.

"Good to see you," said the other fox lowly, red eyes flickering over at Judy. "This her?"

Nick glanced over at Judy, who fought the effort to shift uncomfortably in the ankle-deep water. As she tried to subtly move her feet, she caught a glance of Alec's legs. His ankles were ringed in skin without fur, wrinkled and spoiled from the constant exposure to water. She looked back up quickly.

Nick nodded, and although he kept his expression easy, it was one of the only times Judy could remember seeing him without even a hint of amusement in his eyes. "It is. Is the chem dealer meeting with us?"

Alec nodded, puffing on his cigarette as he moved around the area slowly. "Yeah, he's comin'. I got you on this."

"How do you know? And does he know who we are?"

Alec shook his head. "He's got no idea. But he owes me a pretty big favor," he glanced at Judy, who was doing her very best to ignore the frigid temperatures of the canals, the chill of which was incensed by the freezing water at her feet. She was too preoccupied to notice Alec moving until he was standing somewhat close to her, hand extending a dirty blanket in a somewhat awkward fashion, his expression flat and looking away from her.

"Oh, uh," Judy glanced at Nick before accepting the blanket, wrapping it around her shoulders. She offered Alec a small appreciative smile. "Thank you."

Shrugging against her thanks, Alec turned away and tipped his cigarette up and down in his mouth idly. "Don't worry," he muttered to Nick over his shoulder. "He knows if he doesn't show up, it's his ass." The fox turned to face them, leaning back against the table housing the radio, his skinny shoulders pushed up as he leaned both hands on the table behind him.

He exhaled a puff of smoke. "And he doesn't want another unscheduled visit from me."

Judy looked over at Nick uncertainly, but he only shifted a bit in his spot, before looking to Alec. "Hey, you know that my offer still stands, right? You can always come live with me. You don't have to stay down here," he said quietly.

The red-eyed fox looked him over for a moment, and Judy could see affection still lingered there. They must've been very close once, Judy wagered.

"I'm fine," Alec said after a long moment of silence. Then, before Nick could argue further, he placed his cigarette back in his mouth and asked, "How's Aunt Ella?"

Nick bit back what he'd originally intended to say. "She's fine," he murmured casually. "She'd love a visit from you. I can call ahead, have them sign you in."

"Yeah," Alec gave a little nod, his eyes looking away and at the blank stone wall. "That'd be nice." His wistful tone made it sound as if he was talking about a trip through an interdimensional portal – equally far and unlikely. Frowning, Judy wished she could think of something nice to say to Alec, because so far, he'd seemed to make an effort to be friendly, if not distant. But nothing in the place invited pleasant thoughts at all. Nothing even seemed homely or comforting. It was just … awful.

Shifting under her blanket, Judy moved to readjust it when Alec glanced in her direction, and it was just then that he spotted something that changed his demeanor in a flash. Canines bared in an instant, and he leaped for Judy with a snarl, claws extended.

"WHOA, HEY!" exclaimed Nick, snatching him around his torso. "What is your problem?!"

Nick looked over to see Judy standing, her eyes sharp on Alec and her taser gun aimed in the aggressive fox's direction, though it had been sitting calmly at her hip until Alec had spotted it. "Judy! Put that away!"

Judy continued to stare down Alec, but after a moment, she shoved the gun out of sight as Nick pushed Alec back from Judy.

"Calm down!" snapped Nick, pushing back on Alec's chest. "She didn't know! I didn't tell her not to bring it!"

"She can't have that down here!" Alec pointed at her vehemently, eyes wide, frightened and angry. "Tell her to put that away! Gone! Now!"

Her heart pounding, Judy did her best to make sure the gun was concealed, and after several more minutes, Alec finally calmed, jerking away from Nick and crossing to the far corner of the room, where he paced belligerently.

"I'm sorry," whispered Judy vehemently to Nick, her body on high alert, adrenaline pumping. "I didn't know!"

"Just keep it hidden," Nick told her in a rushed whisper. "I – I didn't tell you, it's not your fault." Glancing back at his cousin, Nick spoke quietly, "A lot of the mammals down here have had pretty bad experiences with taser guns. Just… keep that in mind, okay?"

Judy nodded, swallowing her discomfort as she looked over at Alec. Backing away from the other fox, she fought to regain control of her pounding heart as Nick moved over to Alec, trying again to ease him. Her backpedaling brought her close to the door of the alcove, and she leaned against the arch, her heart heavy.

As Nick and Alec talked in the background, Judy glanced out of the alcove. For a moment, the noises all mixed together in her anxious mind, but something in the back of her consciousness tugged at her to pay attention, and she did. One ear lifted, and then the other to the curious noises outside Alec's living area. Judy stepped away from the archway and peered down the corridor.

 _What is that noise?_

Turning slowly on her spot, Judy closed her eyes and listened as attentively as she could. Then her eyes shot open, her lips parting in horror. "Nick!" she burst into the room, startling Alec again, who jumped away and against the wall. "The canals! Someone's opened them and this place is going to flood!"

"What?" Nick whirled to face her. "How do you know that?"

"I can hear it!" she pointed. "We've got to get everyone out of here! Now!"

For a split-second, Nick froze in his place, with a boggled Alec at his side. Then he sprang into action, because if Judy said it, he knew with a horrified certainty that she was right. Grabbing Alec's arm, Nick yanked him from the room and took off with Judy, yelling out as they ran.

"THE WATERWAYS ARE OPEN! GET OUT NOW!"

Heads jerked up from fires and mammals sprang from their poorly kept beds. A lone bear looked down at the gathering water on the floor and let out a bellow. "THEY'RE RIGHT! THE WATER IS RISING!"

Judy skidded to a stop in the center of the intersection and listened as hard as she could. "It's coming from the left! Go, this way, don't use those tunnels! Use these!" The animals sprinted and scrambled, shouting and crying out as they fled through two of the southbound tunnels.

"GO, GO!" Nick and Judy rushed to the tunnel entrance and waved the others on, grabbing up any of those who were too drunk or hopped up to run on their own, shoving them out of the area and towards the ladders that led to the surface.

Water rushed audibly in the distance now, and the panic increased, with the larger animals running over the smaller ones to escape. Judy rushed into the sea of stampeding legs to pick up an otter and toss him into the arms of a panda, who gripped him and pulled him along to help him out of the tunnel.

Only once the group was through did Judy and Nick turn into the tunnels themselves, but the water pooled quicker now, and what had once been ankle-deep was now close to Judy's waist. The greatest rush of water had yet to come, but they could hear it, hitting powerfully against the walls of the spillway as it hurried to meet them with violent vigor.

Nick got to the ladder first, but he pulled back and pushed Judy up ahead of them as the main spill of water crashed into the area. The force of the water rushing by pinned them both against the ladder, too far from the surface to pull themselves out. Judy gasped against the weight of the water as it spilled heavily down the tunnel.

The open manhole appeared above the in a ring of light, and Judy turned her face to it before using all of her strength to pull herself up, but just then, she heard Nick shout over the sound of the roaring water. "ALEC!" The pair turned to see the fox clinging to a pipe on the ceiling, clinging desperately with his claws extended.

"I'll get him!" called out Judy, but Nick shook his head.

"You're not strong enough to pull him out!"

"Then you hold on to me!" she called back, linking up their arms and then diving into the water. Nick locked his other arm around the ladder, straining to let Judy go as far into the water as he could without sacrificing his grip on her. The strength of the water nearly pulled him off the ladder and bruises formed where he'd locked his arm around the rung, but he held on. The bunny pushed through the water and reached out to Alec, who gripped the pipe with his claws extended, his haggard features terrified.

"Grab me, Alec!"

He reached out a hand, but he lost his hold on the pipe and quickly jumped back to it.

"It's okay, Alec!" cried out Judy. "I won't let you go! I promise!"

The water swelled and overwhelmed Alec, but in that instant, he shot out a hand and managed to grab a hold of Judy. Nick reacted instantly, pulling with all of his strength until he managed to climb out of the manhole and, with one great pull, Judy and Alec came tumbling out of what might have been a watery grave.

The three mammals rolled into the street in wet wads of fur, hacking and coughing desperately.

As soon as he had enough oxygen to think properly, Nick snatched Judy up against him in a hug, and she collapsed against him exhaustedly.

 _Heart attack,_ he thought to himself. _Heart attack before I'm forty._

* * *

It was dark by the time the ambulances arrived, and Nick and Judy gratefully kept their seats on the back of one vehicle as the medics checked them over. Red and blue lights flashed all over the streets, making Nick squint against the brightness.

Alec appeared in front of them, one hand tiredly working a towel over his fur, shirt discarded. "Look at that," he said in his quiet, rough voice. "Looks like you got everyone out in time." He shook his head, looking over the two of them with a look of disbelief. "Either you two got some luck, or you're real miracle workers."

Lifting his head and rubbing the back of his neck with a towel, Nick raised a brow at him. "You should thank Judy," he told him in measured tones, not quite past Alec's violent reaction in the tunnels. "She's the one who reacted in time."

Standing up from her spot on the ambulance, Judy frowned as she watched a uniformed officer pull something from one of the manholes. "Looks like we didn't save everyone," she murmured sadly, watching as the officer looked over the dead body, still soaked from head to toe.

The two foxes followed her gaze, and Alec's eyes narrowed. Moving closer, he lifted his head to look, before turning back to Nick and Judy with his lips curled in a growl.

"That's him." Nick and Judy looked to Alec as he spoke. "That's the drug dealer we were supposed to meet."

Nick stood up and watched as the officers moved to cover up the body, but not before he got a good look at it. Looking back to Judy, he dropped his hands to his sides and shook his head. "He didn't drown. His throat was cut."

Judy came slowly to stand next to him, her eyes on the body as it was covered by a plastic sheet.

"The killer was down there with us," she whispered, before her expression grew hard. "He killed him and then flooded the tunnels to try and get rid of us."

"Well, well," Nick murmured, his eyes dark. "Looks like someone's getting a little worried."

Judy turned away from the scene, pulling the blanket off her shoulders and dropping it to the back of the ambulance as she walked away.

"Good," she said, thinking back on the terrified mammals as they fled for their lives. "He should be."


	8. Chapter 8

Author's Note: Hey guys! Thanks for the awesome reviews! So excited to continue. Also, if you need more NickxJudy fix, check out "In the event of an emergency," by BearMauls here on the site. Great one-shot!

* * *

One thing Judy had definitely failed to mention about the career of a police officer was all the paperwork.

Seriously, it was never-ending. After the incident in the sewers, Nick and Judy spent two days filing reports, documenting their experiences and talking to Bogo. They even attended a news conference to downplay the entire incident to the media, which Nick had the sneaking suspicion meant they were now in the spotlight again. Which, frankly, he did not want at all.

"So you never found Alec again, huh?" asked Judy as they headed out of the station at the end of their shift. Sighing, Nick slipped on his shades.

"Nope. He stayed in my apartment that night, but when I woke up the next day, he was gone." Nick shrugged, waving a hand dismissively. "Guess I should just be glad he didn't rob me blind."

"I'm sorry," Judy touched his arm. "I know he was your family. It was nice of him to try and help us."

"Speaking of family," Nick glanced at a message on his phone. "I know of a crazy old vixen who wants to see a certain bunny cop _very_ badly. What do you say we head over there tomorrow?"

Judy asked wryly, "Am I going to have to drag you out of bed again, hm? Because I have better things to do than act as your personal alarm clock, Nick Wilde."

Nick grinned a bit, taking his time musing over a few possible responses, some more appropriate than others. In the end, he wisely chose to keep them to himself and simply dipped his head in a bow.

"I will always be ready and waiting for you, sweetheart."

* * *

True to his word, Nick was awake and dressed by the time Judy showed up at his apartment.

Okay, well, he was half-dressed, and he was mostly just lying around drinking coffee and reading the newspaper, but it was more than Judy had expected.

By the time they reached Ella's community, the day had warmed considerably and the weather was pleasant. Something in Nick's mind noted that despite the nice day, Ella wasn't outside when they arrived, as was her custom, and when they arrived at her apartment, he saw why.

"Oh, oh!" Ella waved her hand at the nurse, Ellis, who was in the process of drawing blood from her arm when Nick and Judy entered her apartment. "My children are here, hurry up, Ellis!"

"I see them, I see them," teased the coyote in scrubs, withdrawing the needle and putting away the blood. "One more minute, Mrs. Wilde." He finished his work and put away his tools on a tray table, catching Nick's eye as he and Judy entered. Nick's stomach lurched uncomfortably, and as soon as he kissed his mother hello and let Judy take over the greetings, he stepped aside with the nurse.

"Is she okay?" he asked immediately, his voice low.

The nurse held up his hand in a placating gesture. "She's just been feeling some fatigue, lately. We wanted to run a few tests to make sure nothing serious is going on. And we'll keep you updated, as usual."

Exhaling in relief, Nick cast a glance at his mother and Judy, who talked together amicably from where the elderly vixen sat on the edge of her bed. "Thanks," Nick nodded. "She's taking her medicine and everything?"

"Not without a little grumbling," Ellis smiled good-naturedly. "But yes, she is. Still, I would recommend you two keep your visit short today, so she can rest. I'll be back in a little while with her usual meds."

With that, the coyote turned and began scribbling some notes on a clipboard, and Nick rejoined the other two, but not before pausing to tap out a reminder on his phone to contact Ella's doctor. The nurse left as he finished, and Nick put his phone away before joining Judy and Ella.

As he took a seat near the chatting pair, Nick did his best to keep the inspection of his mother as subtle as possible. She noticed anyway, of course.

"Stop looking at me like that, Nicholas," she wiggled a finger at him, and he rolled his eyes grandly.

"I'm just check on you, Mom. And you're the one who hasn't been feeling well," he argued, to which Ella responded by turning to Judy next to her.

"So, Judy! Did I ever tell you Nick once ate an eraser?" she asked, completely ignoring Nick's loud groan and the slap of his hand over his face.

"Nice," Judy grinned, impressed. "Classic Wilde deflection. And now I know where Nick gets it."

"In my defense," Nick leaned forward, "Who thinks candy-shaped erasers for children are even remotely a good idea?"

His mother eyed him without pity. "You were _twelve_ , Nick." Ella clapped a hand on her knee and turned to Judy again, who was doing a very poor job of stifling her laughter. "I don't like all of this fussy business, Judy. Nick is always worrying, but he hides it well. You've got to look for it, extra close." She leaned over and prodded Nick's arm with an affectionate wink.

Judy giggled. "I've seen a hint of it once or twice," she said with a quirk of her lips, mischievous eyes on Nick.

At this, Nick smirked and lifted both shoulders in a shrug. "What can I say? I'm a total sweetheart."

The trio chitchatted for a while after that, until Ellis the nurse came back in about twenty minutes later. "We should probably get going," Nick stood away from his chair, and his mother made a face at him.

"So soon? Oh – Ellis, what did you say?" she chided her nurse, who calmly went about gathering her medicines from his tray.

Nick saddled his mother with a Look. "He just mentioned that you need some rest, Mom."

Ella Wilde scoffed. "And what does he know?" she groused, before looking up at Ellis and sighing. "I'm sorry, dear. I know you're actually very knowledgeable," she patted his shoulder and he chuckled quietly in response. "I'm just being grumpy."

"It's only for today," her nurse consoled her as he extended a cup of water with her pills. "Get to feeling a little better, and I promise I'll let you returned to all of your adventuring."

Judy and Nick said their good-byes as Ella resettled against her bed, hugging them affectionately and giving them her best well-wishes. As the pair turned to leave, Judy tapped Nick's arm. "Hey, goof. You almost left your phone," she picked it up from the table and handed it to him.

Nick took the phone, wondering where his mind had gone. "Thanks," he said, tucking it into his pocket as they left the compound and headed out.

* * *

Two days off in a row was a rare occurrence for Nick and Judy, but Bogo had finally taken pity on them and they'd manage to secure both Thursday and Friday for leisure. After visiting Ella on Thursday, the duo opted to spend that evening doing their own thing. Judy had taken to the bookstore and found herself a new novel, while Nick finally met up with Finnick for the first time in weeks, which ended up being a very long night talking outside the van, reclined on lawn-chairs and sipping drinks.

All in all, it was a very enjoyable day for everyone involved. Of course, the time apart also meant Nick and Judy were _quite_ eager to see each other again, which was how Nick found himself at his apartment on Friday evening, anxiously waiting for Judy to arrive.

Okay, so he'd been anxiously waiting at one point, but then he'd wandered into his room and fallen onto his bed, one arm thrown over his face and shirt discarded on the floor, because he'd immediately reverted back to Lazy Mode once left to his own devices.

"Knock knock!"

Forgoing an actual knock, Judy Hopps bounced into the apartment and quickly discovered Nick lounging in his bedroom. "Aw, look at my sleepy little fox," she jumped onto the bed with a grin, moving up the length of it and dropping down next to Nick, who lifted his arm to look over at her and smile.

"Who said I'm sleepy?" he turned on his side to face her, cheek pressed against a pillow. "Maybe I'm just bored without a hyperactive bunny around, making me do stuff all the time."

"How was Finnick?" asked Judy, curling closer as Nick wrapped her in his arm. She quickly found her favorite spot – the small crook where Nick's shoulder met his torso – and snuggled down there, making him chuckle and kiss the top of her head.

"Crazy," he answered. "As usual. He keeps yelling at me about leaving him to hustle on his own." Nick rolled his eyes. "I offered to give him some money, but he said he'd rather become a personal escort for nymphomaniac hippos than take my, and I quote, _dirty cop money_."

"Yikes," Judy nodded, tilting her head up to look at Nick with a smirk. "That's pretty serious. Sounds about like Finnick, though."

"Oh, yeah. He's classic."

Judy didn't respond, instead reaching up a grey hand to brush through the reddish-auburn fur on Nick's chest. He wore a pair of shorts, but nothing else, and so she took advantage of the chance to run her fingers through his pelt. Surprisingly, Nick fell quiet and let her peruse, her fingers brushing gently at first and then spreading, careful not to bother the fur too badly. It felt so nice between her fingers, thicker and longer than hers, softer and less fine.

She paused when she realized he hadn't said anything, and lavender eyes turned up to his. "Am I bothering you?" she asked sincerely.

The fox raised both brows and his lips quirked. " _Bothering_ me?" he repeated quietly. "No, not at all."

Smiling a bit shyly, Judy turned her eyes to his torso again, tracing her fingers through the fur on his chest as it shifted between red, black and white in small bits. Her eyes followed the movement of her hand as she reached up to the top of his chest, curling her fingers and drawing them down the center of his abdomen slowly, thoughtfully.

The first few times, she stopped halfway down his front, but then she let her curled fingers brush through the fur all the way down to the top of Nick's pants, where his stomach pulled in with a sudden sharp breath.

She looked up, wondering if she'd done something wrong, but she knew when she saw his face that he wasn't reacting to her touch out of discomfort. One of Nick's hands moved then and caught hers, using it to press her back against the bed until she was lying flat beneath him.

Heart pounding, Judy's fingers flexed over his, and for a moment, neither of them moved. Then Judy brought up a leg, foot planted against the bed, and the motion pressed their bodies just that much closer.

It was enough.

They met each other halfway, mouths pressing together in a deep kiss as Nick took Judy's hand in his grip and raised it over her head, careful not to hurt her as he leaned his body over hers and felt her curl warmly against him. The leg she'd raised pressed at his side and the other leg joined it, causing their bodies to rock together involuntarily, breathless gasps escaping them both.

An agonized curse filled Nick's head, because urges he hadn't felt in a while (or, at least, not with someone else) pressed hard at his mind and body, and Judy arching against him was the very definition of _not. helping._

But the combined knowledge that this was Judy, someone who he cared for beyond all others, and the fact that he hadn't been with anyone else in a long time meant his body spoke for itself.

He pulled his lips from Judy's and buried his face in her neck with the intention of stopping altogether, but instead he kissed there, because new areas of fur and skin were now available and he wanted to taste it more than he cared to admit. Judy's reaction to his mouth on her neck was a shaky gasp, her knees curling tight at his side, her body arching up to his again as she tilted back her head to give him easier access.

"Nick.." she breathed out, her hand in his curling tight over his digits before pulling it to her stomach, where he blindly traced his way up, over her shirt, brushing her chest before settling on her shoulder as he kissed and suckled down to her collarbone.

As soon as he was stopped by the collar of her shirt, Nick's mouth jumped back up to hers and she met it enthusiastically. Her hand jumped up to grab his again, squeezing it before the joined pair moved to her waist. Nick felt her clothed hip underneath his fingers and a shudder ran through him, digits brushing the fur of her stomach beneath the edge of the shirt.

It was then that Judy pulled away, though not without pressing against him on more time with a soft, somewhat strangled noise, her breathing labored. "Wait," she murmured, and it was then that Nick realized, somewhere in the hazy fog that was his mind, how she was trembling. "I don't, um – "

He pulled back immediately, but Judy grabbed his hand and kept him from going too far. "I'm okay, I'm okay," she reassured him, pulling him back to her and smiling a bit, her cheeks flushed and her eyes wide. "I promise."

Chest heaving, Nick squeezed her hand before moving his own up to brush over her face tenderly. "Are you sure?" he asked, gulping down air and hoping the oxygen somehow managed to reach all parts of him. When (most) of his body calmed, he relaxed next to her, and she remained very close.

"Yeah," she nodded, swallowing past her dry throat. "I just – I was – I'm a little… " An embarrassed flush filled her cheeks again, and Nick looked her over for a long moment, considering his words very carefully before speaking them.

"Hey. You can _always_ stop me, Judy," he told her tenderly. "And you don't ever have to give me a reason unless you want to. All you have to say is 'No.'" At this, Judy visibly relaxed, and she curled her head close to his to give him a gentle kiss.

"Or," Nick continued after they'd both gotten almost back to normal, "You can also say 'wait,' 'move out of the way,' 'leave me alone,' 'stop talking' – "

Judy's head popped up from the pillow. "That's an option? Seriously?"

Nick opened his mouth to reply, but Judy held up a hand. "Ah! Stop talking!" To her great amusement, Nick actually shut his mouth with an audible click, smirking at her but not talking. Judy's face lit up and she straightened from her spot on the bed, spreading her arms grandly.

"Oh my god, I feel so – so powerful," she gasped dramatically, moving from her spot and climbing on top of Nick, who grunted but otherwise remained silent, though his wry expression spoke volumes. "I feel like… like WonderBunny," she continued, arms still spread. Then she pointed at Nick. "You may speak."

"You are SO abusing your – "

"Stop talking!"

When Nick clamped his mouth shut again, laughing through his closed lips, Judy let out a triumphant cry.

"WonderBunny! With the amazing ability to catch falling buildings… halt a moving train… and _stop Nick Wilde from talking_!" She wrapped her arms around herself, still straddling Nick, thoroughly pleased. "What do you say to that, Mr. Wilde?"

He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Oh," she snickered. "You can talk now."

In response, he simply reached forward and pulled her close enough for a sweet, slow kiss. "No thanks," he murmured, lips curling into a smile when Judy beamed and returned the kiss. They pulled apart, but Judy remained where she was, on top of him.

After a moment, she glanced at his face and whispered bashfully, "I – I want to, you know. I do. And I know you said I didn't have to give you a reason, but I just wanted you to know that I _do_ want to." Nick watched, one hand resting gently on her leg. "It's just – I know you have and I haven't, so… I just need to," she shrugged, head tucked a bit shyly. "I just need to get more comfortable with the idea, that's all."

"Okay," he agreed easily, giving her one of his rare real smiles. "Take all the time you need. I plan on being around a very long time." Then he shifted a bit. "Still, I gotta admit, you're not making things any easier for me by, you know, sitting on top of me."

"Oh, oops," Judy shifted off of him with a giggle. "Sorry."

They turned to face each other again as Nick spoke, pausing for a moment before giving her an appraising look, as though he was evaluating her reaction on something. "Though, while we're somewhat on the subject, there is something I should probably explain to you about foxes," he said, pausing before going on slowly, " _Male_ foxes, specifically."

Judy blinked, before suddenly a furious flush took over her cheeks. "Ah," she mumbled. "Would, it, uh – " Nick looked at her curiously as she stumbled on, "Would it help if I said I … heard some rumors and kinda looked it up on the internet?"

Nick's eyes widened. "Judy!" he admonished with a genuinely amused laugh, which only increased when Judy squeaked and covered her embarrassed face with her hands.

"Is that weird?" she asked, mortified.

"Mm, not any weirder than me explaining it to you, I guess," Nick snickered. He propped his head up in his hand, elbow against the bed. "Wow, you bunnies really are insatiable, Carrots."

Judy covered up her face again. "It's not like that!" she groaned, rolling away from him and pulling the blanket over her head.

"Oh, you should've known better than that," grinned the fox, jumping up and catching her in the blankets. "Sushi bun!" Judy shrieked and laughed as he quickly jumped up and rolled her down the length of the bed, effectively trapping her in a swaddle of sheets and blankets.

"No! No sushi bun!"

"This is what you get for looking up porn, sushi bun."

"It was a MEDICAL ARTICLE!"

* * *

"Hey, Tsume."

Back at work the next day and feeling _quite_ light on his feet, Nick rounded a cubicle wall and nodded in his co-workers direction. "You have that file I asked you to look over?"

The uniformed timber wolf looked up from his phone. "Oh!" he wiggled a finger at Nick, turning to rifle around in his filing cabinet. "Yeah, Wilde, hang on a sec. Got it here somewhere."

From his spot at their desk, Tsume's partner looked up and leaned back in his chair. "So busy savin' the world, ya' can't handle your own workload, Wilde?"

Nick accepted the file from Tsume and offered Michael Jumps a sardonic smile. "You seem tense today, Jumps. What's the matter? Your sister break up with you?"

Michael narrowed his eyes from his chair and leaned forward. "You know, Wilde, you really oughta come find me on the mats in the gym one day. See how long your smart mouth lasts there."

"Oh, that'll be the last thing to go," Nick informed him with a snarky smile. Then he tucked the file under his arm and gave Michael a mock salute. "Have a nice day, officers." Leaving the pair behind, Nick travelled to his and Judy's desk, passing her the files. "Here's some notes on the schematics of the tunnels. We can plan a thorough sweep of them as soon as – "

"Oi, Hopps. Wilde." Nick and Judy looked up to see Milton the bull jab his finger in some vague direction over his shoulder. "You're needed in Chief's office."

Glancing at each other curiously, the pair left their desk and crossed the station to Bogo's office.

However, instead of seeing Bogo seated behind his enormous desk, they instead found two beaming, professionally dressed, and wholly unfamiliar mammals with clipboards and pens. Nick and Judy stopped just inside the doorway, eyeing the pair skeptically.

"And what fresh hell is this?" Nick wondered aloud.

"Officer Hopps! Office Wilde!" The jaguar rose first, a female in a business suit with a pair of spectacles balanced on her nose. "It's so nice to meet you both!" Her partner, a male elk who was also wearing a suit, watched them with an artificial smile that Nick immediately took issue with.

Judy glanced between the two unfamiliar faces. "May I ask what this is all about?" she questioned without moving, hands behind her back.

"Please," said the jaguar in her most chipper tones, instead of answering the question. "Take a seat."

"Why? You planning on locking us in here?" asked Nick, dry as Sahara Square.

The elk stood as well, rounding the desk with his hands behind his back. "Officers, my name is Dr. Albert Rocky, and this is my work associate, Dr. Harriett Jagmire." The two looked at one another with undisguised appreciation for their purpose.

"We're here to help you," he said enthusiastically.

"Help us?" questioned Judy, exchanging a look with Nick, who exhaled loudly.

Dr. Jagmire spoke up again, her knees stooped a little to speak to the smaller mammals in what might've been the most condescending way possible. "Yes! We're here because your friends and family are … _concerned_ about your relationship."

Nick put his hands in the pocket of his work slacks and raised both brows. "If by 'friends and family' you mean Bogo – who, by the way, is neither – then yes. Yes, they are."

"We simply want to speak with you," started the elk again, but this time Judy cut him off, hopping on the back of her heels.

"You know what?" she nodded confidently. "We'd be glad to talk."

"We would?" Nick made a face at her.

"Yes!" Judy smiled at him, turning the brightness of the expression to the pair of doctors. "Because we have nothing to hide and nothing to be ashamed of. Right, Nick?"

The fox smirked a bit, turning his cocky expression to the doctor. "Of course," he said sweetly, and the pair of doctors beamed at one another before resuming their seats. Judy and Nick moved to sit in two separate chairs in front of the desk, but as soon as Nick jumped up to sit in his, he slid back down again.

"Mind if I grab some coffee?" he pointed to the coffee maker.

The doctors looked at one another before shaking their heads with placating gestures. "No, no, go right ahead, Officer W – "

"Splendid," he said, taking his time ambling over to the coffee pot. The doctors and Judy waited in silence as he inspected the full pot of coffee, fished around for a cup and began to pour. Then he wrinkled his nose.

"Oh, no, this coffee is old. Darn it all." He dumped the entire thing into one of Bogo's favorite plants. "Guess I'll just have to make some more."

Whistling all the while, Nick took his time bustling around the coffee maker, much to the growing annoyance of the doctors. Judy, from her spot on the chair, carefully concealed her snicker behind a hand. Nick paused in his coffee making process.

"Judy, sweetie, would you like some coffee?"

"No, thank you," she managed, swallowing yet more laughter before adding, "…darling."

Chuckling – and without offering any to the doctors - Nick continued his coffee making at a leisurely pace, still whistling. At last, he finished the entire coffee pot, even though he only needed enough for a cup, poured it, mixed it with some creamer and sugar and, finally, he turned and ambled back over to his chair.

Sitting back up with his coffee in hand, Nick smiled at the doctors, who glanced at each other and then opened their mouths to speak.

 _Ssslurrrrpppp._

Both doctors looked slowly over at Nick, who stared back, unperturbed, from behind his cup of coffee. They each responded with a bit of a glare, and Nick glanced over at Judy.

"This coffee is _terrible_ ," he told her plaintively.

"So!" Jagmire leaned forward, ready to overlook the last ten minutes as Nick and Judy exchanged deeply amused glances. "The reason Dr. Rocky and I are here is because we are professional psychiatrists dedicated to the correction of certain… unsavory mental conditions, including those which instigate unhealthy relationships."

Judy squinted, ears pinned back.

"Now," Jagmire continued enthusiastically, "while we believe that the relationship between two different mammals can be as meaningful as any between shared species, we also know that certain _inappropriate_ elements should not be allowed to exist."

A heartbeat passed in silence, before Nick leaned over his chair to Judy.

"She means the sex."

"Officer Wilde!"

Nick leaned back in his chair and waved his coffee. "I'm just trying to make sure we're all on the same page," he informed them innocently. At his side, Judy hid her mortified but amused expression behind her hand.

"What we are here to do," continued Jagmire pointedly, "is determine what exactly led you to this unnatural and inappropriate relationship, and what we can do to correct whatever is happening, so that the two of you can lead healthy, successful lives."

Again, Judy's features pinched with confusion. Not the sort of confusion that came from a lack of understanding, but the kind that stemmed from wondering how it was even possible for someone to say or do the things they were, in fact, saying or doing, in all seriousness and without realizing how crazy they seemed.

"Officer Hopps, we'll start with you. May we call you Judy?" asked the elk, taking over.

"I … guess?" she answered, no longer quite as polite.

"Excellent," Dr. Rocky clasped his hands on the desk. "Now, tell me, Judy. Have you ever had a relationship with someone outside of your species before?"

Taking in a deep breath, Judy exhaled quietly and forced herself to smile. "No, no I have not."

"Have you ever had a relationship with a rabbit?"

"Mm, no," she answered. "I've never had any real boyfriends."

The elk leaned forward. "And are you attracted to rabbits? Have you ever wanted to date one?"

A bit embarrassed, Judy folded her arms. "I – I mean, yes? Maybe?" she paused thoughtfully. "Well, okay, I did have a crush on a guy when I was in high school," she said at last. "But then he turned out to be my cousin." Glancing over at Nick, she added, "It's really hard to meet a bunny you're not related to when you live in a Bunny Burrow."

"I bet," he said sympathetically.

The doctor pressed on eagerly, ignoring Nick. "And were there any other rabbits you thought were attractive? Any at all? Close your eyes and think."

Judy did as she was told, closing her eyes and wiggling her nose as she seemed to think very, very hard. The doctors waited in anticipation. "Uh," Judy squeezed her eyes shut tight, as if that might help. "My dad was pretty cute, I guess?"

Nick snorted, head tucked against his chest.

The doctors bristled. "Perhaps we can try another train of thought," Dr. Rocky cut in. "Judy, what sort of thinking led you to believe a relationship with a fox might be acceptable?"

Judy raised a brow. "You mean, like, why did I want to date him?" Before Dr. Rocky could protest, Judy tapped her cheek and said, "You know, I didn't really like him at first. He was kind of a rude jerk."

"It's true," Nick agreed.

"But then, after I got to know him a bit," continued Judy wistfully, her features turning to a smile, "I realized he was really smart… and funny … and sweet, when he wanted to be…" The two psychiatrists huffed.

"Alright, Judy, that's quite enough – "

"Plus, he's got such a nice smile," she said, grinning when Nick let out an _awww_ to the side.

"That's enough!" The jaguar observed the two cops with thinly veiled irritation. "Alright," Jagmire took over again, sighing a bit and looking away from Judy. "Perhaps we'll try with Officer Wilde. May we call you Nick?"

"Ah, no," he pointed with the hand holding his coffee. "You may call me Farmer Wilde."

The two doctors glared again. "Ahem," said Jagmire. "Officer Wilde – "

"Farmer Wilde."

She paused and her glare deepened, but she quickly pulled it back. "Tell me, have you ever had relationships with any vixens?"

"Yep." _Ssllurrrp._

"And how did those relationships turn out?"

"Well, they ended, obviously."

The jaguar waved a hand for him to continue. "And what led to the end of those relationships?"

Nick tilted his head to the ceiling as he pondered. "You know, I don't remember." He snapped his fingers then. "Oh! They left the cap off the toothpaste. Every single one of them."

As the doctor massaged her temples, Judy looked over at Nick. "You do that," she pointed out with a smirk.

"I know!" Nick exclaimed enthusiastically. "That's why I need a responsible significant other to help me out. And you are _so_ good at it, by the way," he leaned over and shot her his most affectionate smile, which Judy immediately returned, leaning on her chair arm as well.

"Aww, thanks! My precious little sweet– "

"Enough!" Dr. Rocky cleared his throat loudly, and Nick and Judy leaned back properly in their seats, each stifling more laughter. "Now, Officer Wilde – "

"Farmer Wilde."

The elk ignored him. "Have you ever been in a relationship with someone outside of your species?"

"Besides Judy? I don't think so," he said, before raising both brows. "Well, there was this one night with a raccoon," he looked over at Judy and explained, "I was really drunk, I thought she was just wearing a lot of makeup."

From her spot, Judy silently tried to gulp down air without making it too obvious.

The two psychiatrists were far less amused, but they continued on. "Now, something that Dr. Jagmire and I have theorized," went on Dr. Rocky, "is that all animals involved in inter-species relationships can trace their unnatural thinking back to something we call a _root."_

Nick and Judy both watched and listened, eyebrows raised.

"This root," the elk informed them, "is often a traumatic event in childhood, one that directly relates to the troubled mammal's source of what we call _species confusion_. Do you understand?"

"Nope," said Judy dryly. "But continue."

The pair of psychiatrists turned to Nick. "What we would like you to do is close your eyes and think on your childhood. Is there anything you can recall, any event or circumstance that might've led you down this troubling path?"

Huffing, Nick closed his eyes and did as he was told, falling silent as he let his mind wander. Judy watched from her seat, chin in her hand as they all three watched Nick think. After several seconds of silence, he spoke up, his voice quieter and more subdued than before.

"Actually, there – there was this one thing… involving my father," he said softly, eyes still closed. Judy's ears perked up as she paid close attention, and the psychiatrists leaned forward eagerly to listen.

"We – we were really poor when I was growing up," started Nick, his tone almost dreamy. "And my dad was always trying out some new business or idea. But we got really hard up for money, and so he went to go interview for a real job. He needed a haircut, though, and we didn't have enough money for a nice place, so he went to some shifty spot downtown."

The psychiatrists furiously scribbled notes.

"But when he came home from his haircut," Nick kept his eyes closed but waved his hand. "He just looked – so awful, it was such a bad haircut, and it kind of – " he paused here, looking for a moment like he was choked up. " – it kind of made him look like a w _easel._ And I think," Judy hid her face behind her hand, because Nick's laughter was now quite apparent.

"I think that's where my species confusion comes from," he managed, chuckle growing as he gestured to himself. "Because he looked _just_ like that idiot Duke Weaselton." Unable to hold back anymore, Nick dissolved into laughter, gasping and holding his stomach as Rocky and Jagmire glared daggers from behind the desk.

Sucking in a deep breath, Nick shifted and observed them coolly. "But then he died like two months later," he finished tonelessly, no longer laughing but settling them both with a dangerously cocky glare. "So who knows, really."

Rocky and Jagmire scowled, but then Jagmire's face lit up. "Oh, wait, you're saying – ahhh, so that makes sense! Your father died when you were young. I assume you were raised by your mother, then?"

Nick narrowed his eyes. "Yes."

Dr. Rocky caught on and pointed at his partner, nodding in approval. "Yes, yes! So that means you spent the formative years of your life being dominated by a female predator figure, a vixen specifically - a situation which you as an adult subconsciously sought to correct – "

"Oh, Judy, you are _not_ going to like where they're going with this."

" – by entering into a relationship with a small prey animal who is naturally weaker and more subservient than a female fox!"

Judy snatched the edges of her chairand shrieked, " _WHAT?!"_

Smirking, Nick leaned back, all too satisfied and ready to enjoy the show.

"FIRST of all," Judy stood up in her chair and pointed at the two doctors. "You do NOT talk about Ella Wilde that way, because that lady is a saint! And SECOND of all," she hopped off the chair, pushed it up to the desk with a _creeeaaaakkk_ as it slid across the floor, and then jumped into the seat, all so she could slam her little hands on the wooden desk with a THUD.

" _STOP TELLING ME WHO TO DATE_!"

With that, Judy jumped out of the chair, left it where it was and stomped out of the room, fists curled and shoulders hunched. Just before she walked out of the door, she turned and pointed.

"I bet your degrees are written in Crayon!" _Slam._

Nick watched calmly from his spot, lips quirked, until he also slid off his chair and walked by the desk separating him from two very mortified mammals in suits.

"Weak and subservient," he repeated thoughtfully, before he looked at their bewildered expressions and let out a bark of laughter. He tossed his empty coffee cup in the trashcan.

"Glad to have wasted your time!" he called out as he left.

* * *

"Wow."

"I know, right."

Benjamin Clawhauser shook his head, sipping from his drink before replacing it on the tall bar table. "How's Judy doing after all that?" he asked, and Nick took a drink from his own beer. The pub around them was winding down after a busy evening, and in all honesty, he probably should've left already, but he felt too antsy to return to his apartment just yet. Not after the day he'd just had.

"Well, she was – ah, what was the phrase – _fit to be tied_ , as she put it," Nick slowly twirled his mug in a circle. "Which, I drew from context clues, means she was pretty pissed off. But I think she's okay, now. She went back to her little shoebox apartment to read and relax some."

The cheetah seated across from him made a face. "I'm sorry you guys had to deal with that."

"You don't seem surprised," Nick noted.

"Ehhh," Clawhauser sighed and gave Nick an apologetic look, "I wish I was. I mean, you know I love you guys and I think you're awesome together, but there are still plenty of mammals who take issue with the whole prey-predator relationship."

"Why?" Nick groaned, waving a hand. "What is their problem?"

Clawhauser's brows furrowed and he squirmed uncomfortably in his seat, making the stool creak ominously. "Okay, well, so there are some mammals who think – and okay, like I said, I totally don't agree – but the idea exists that … ya know, prey and predator relationships are … " he winced, "… abusive."

Nick gaped. "Abusive," he repeated in disbelief. "And how the hell did they come up with that?"

"I'm just telling you what others say!" Clawhauser held up his hands before going on hesitantly, "And there are some who think that prey and predator relationships can never be fully consensual because a predator animal is always dominant. Therefore, that relationship is inherently harmful."

He paused. "Of course, anyone who's ever met you two knows Judy could totally kick your tail."

Nick dropped his arm to the table and glared. "You've got to be kidding me," he scowled heavily. "And how is it I've never heard this twisted logic before?"

Clawhauser shrugged and sipped at his drink. "Sometimes it's easy to miss stuff like this when it's not happening to you," he pointed out, making Nick pause and fall into a thoughtful silence.

The bartender made the last call announcement from behind the counter and Clawhauser looked up. "Want another drink before they close?"

"Nah," Nick pushed away his mug. "I limit myself at two these days, in order to avoid swift and painful retribution."

Clawhauser blinked. "From… Judy?"

The fox snorted. "What? No, of course not. I mean from my mother, who decided that seeing her son get arrested for drunkenly riding an industrial floor buffer across a department store floor at two in the afternoon was not an experience she cared to repeat."

The cheetah giggled. "You are truly a spectacle, Nick Wilde."

"I know, right. Compare your life to mine and then feel _very_ good about yourself."

At that moment, a voice rang out behind them. "Hey, Clawhauser!"

As it always did when he heard Michael Jumps' voice, Nick's brain cringed unpleasantly. The rabbit rounded Clawhauser with an easy smile, before he noticed Nick sitting with him and his expression shifted to annoyance.

"Wilde," he greeted dully.

"Skips." Nick ate a peanut from the bowl. Michael let out an angry snort, but Clawhauser, ever the peacekeeper, gestured for him to pull up a chair.

"Join us, Michael! Not too long before the bar closes. We can all, eh," he glanced away from Nick's glare, "… spend some quality time together. Yayy."

The rabbit hesitated, but ultimately did as he was asked, finding a stool and pulling it up to the table before clambering up to the top with a drink of his own. "So how's things going with Tsume?" asked Clawhauser conversationally. "What's Bogo got you two working on?"

Michael took a gulp of his drink, the glass mug looking overly large in his hand. "Eh, traffic detail, mostly. Did security for the Skunk Pride Parade the other day. That was… " he made a face. " … interestin', I guess."

"It takes a while to get to the really exciting stuff," the cheetah told him sympathetically. "Tsume's pretty new, too. You guys will get more fun assignments soon. Heck, some of the officers worked as meter maids for a whole year! Even Judy did it for a few days!"

"Oh, yeah," Michael said, looking over at Nick, who'd been steadily cramming peanuts in his mouth to avoid speaking. "Speakin' of, I think this is the first time I've seen you around without your babysitter, Wilde. She got better things to do than hang around with you after hours?"

Crunching on a peanut, Nick observed Michael with an unimpressed grimace. "She's at home, reading. And she hangs out with me plenty, Cotton Tail, not that it's any of your business."

Clawhauser bit his lip before leaning over to Michael. "They're dating, actually. Nick and Judy," he informed him.

At this bit of news, Michael Jumps actually laughed, before he stopped abruptly and looked between his fellow officers in disbelief. "Wait… You're serious? I just thought that was some dumb rumor goin' round the station."

"Nope," Nick observed him coolly over the top of his glass. "Completely true."

As Nick watched, Michael turned and looked at him over for a long moment. Then he snorted and shook his head, prompting Nick to tap his fingers on the table before leaning forward. "Do you have something to say, Jumps?"

The rabbit looked up, meeting Nick's gaze without fear, even as he shrugged. "Just didn't know Judy was that kinda' girl, that's all," he said evenly.

Ire began to pump into Nick's blood, but he kept his outward expression calm, if not very unfriendly. "And what kind of girl is that?"

Michael raised a brow. "The kind that dates foxes," he stated without shame.

"Okay, okay," Clawhauser made calming motions with his hands, "let's pick a happy topic to talk about! Or, uh, hey look, sports on the tv!"

"And what the hell is wrong with dating foxes?" asked Nick, ignoring Clawhauser.

Michael scoffed. "I just thought Judy had more respect for herself than that."

"You're the one who doesn't have any respect for Judy," hissed Nick, dangerously close to losing his cool.

"Guys!" Clawhauser interrupted, reaching between them and subtly pulling Nick back away from the table. "Geez, calm down! Just, I don't know, talk about something else. And don't say bad things about anyone, including Judy. She is a precious sweetheart."

Nick leaned back as far as his backless stool would allow, not moving his hostile glare from Michael.

"Wasn't mean to offend," said Michael unconvincingly, unwilling to break away from Nick's stare. He shrugged one shoulder casually. "Just statin' my opinion. Guess someone's feelin' sensitive."

Nick's eyes narrowed deeply. "Yeah, well, if someone tells you something offends them, you don't get to decide that it doesn't. So your choices at that point are either re-evaluate your idiot speech or _shut your damn trap."_

Clawhauser drummed his fingers nervously on the table, because the bartender was starting to notice the argument. "Uh, guys, maybe we should just go – "

"Don't bother," Michael slammed down his drink and turned to leave. "I'll go." As he moved to hop down, he paused and looked over at Nick. Then he raised both brows and let out a bitter chuckle. "I hope you're plannin' on marryin' her," he told Nick before he jumped down to the floor. He turned and looked him in the eye. "Cause ain't no one gonna want to be with her after she's been with a _fox_."

Nick's anger reached its peak, and his claws carved deep lines into the pub table as he leaned forward and snapped, "Well, anything's gotta be better than mixing with your defective, backwoods, missing-half-of-its-chromosomes gene pool, so do the world a favor and _go die in a shark on fire_."

He spotted the attack a split-second before it happened, but it didn't save him from getting tackled out of his chair.

Nick and Michael tumbled to the floor in a whirlwind of swinging limbs, rolling around and knocking over tables and chairs, much to the shrieking panic of Clawhauser, who tried to stop them but pulled back when the bartender began yelling about drunken idiots messing up his bar.

Nick was stronger than Michael, but the rabbit had him on speed, and the two combatants exchanged a few punches before Nick shoved him off and Michael rolled across the floor. As soon as he popped up to stand and fight, something clattered to the floor, and Nick looked down just in time to see him snatch up a large hunting knife from the floor, which he hurriedly shoved back into his pocket.

This time, Nick pounced, blood pumping and body wanting nothing more than to pound this stupid bigoted hick into the ground. Unfortunately, Michael caught him by the arm and they both went flying into a drink machine, shattering the front glass door with their weight.

It was then that Nick vaguely registered hearing the bartender call for security, and a few seconds later, the front door of the bar slammed open and a burly bull in a tight t-shirt came barreling in.

And, well, that was pretty much the end of all that.

* * *

Author's Note: If Nick and Judy's conversation in bed was confusing to you, they were talking about knotting, which is something foxes do during sex (like dogs). Seems like if you're going to hook up with someone of a different species, it's probably a good idea to know how their body works. Actually, that goes for same species as well. Sometimes sex just doesn't cut it! _The more you know. ~rainbow~_


	9. Chapter 9

Author's Note: Thank you so much for all the wonderful reviews! So glad I can share this with you. As always, check out my tumblr for the occasional bonus content. Plus, just lots of fun fandom stuff.

 **Important note:** I will be out of the country during the entire month of June. Unfortunately, that means I will not be updating again until July. I hope you all can forgive me! Also, thanks to Bearmauls for being an awesome beta, in addition to an excellent friend who calms me down when I panic about public transportation in a foreign country.

* * *

In retrospect, Nick probably should've expected to end up in jail at least once more in his life.

 _Because you know,_ he thought to himself, _I can't help but make my life into one big clusterf-_

"Wow," came a wry voice outside the cell, and he looked up to see Judy Hopps, dressed in a pair of a lounge pants and a t-shirt. "Fancy meeting you here."

Nick leaned back against the gritty holding cell wall, his posture on the metal bench unconvincingly casual as he spoke in lofty tones, "You know, I can feel your condescension from all the way in here, so I think I'll just… stay in my little judgement-free zone for a while."

Judy leaned a shoulder against the cell and raised a brow. "Nick, if you think a jail cell is a judgement-free zone, you haven't been paying very close attention."

Nick looked away at the wall and drummed his fingers on his knees. "Valid point."

Outside the cell, the skeleton crew that ran the police station on night-shifts moved around in patterns far too coordinated to be authentic. Judy glanced over her shoulder, tapping her foot rapidly when Francine outright lifted an ear to eavesdrop. The elephant quickly grabbed up her papers and hurried away at the bunny's purple-eyed glare.

"I'm fine, by the way," Nick informed her with raised brows.

Judy rolled her eyes. "I know," she told him. "I already checked with Fangmire to make sure you weren't injured." Sighing, she leaned closer to the cell and lost her dry tones. "Nick, what happened?"

"You're going to have to be more specific." He studied his claws.

"With Jumps," she hissed, leaning on the bars. "Why did you two get into a fight?"

Nick hummed thoughtfully, still not looking at her as he seemed to mull over his possible responses. Then he snapped his fingers and said, "He doesn't return his library books."

Judy exhaled noisily.

"Which is _rude_ , Judy," Nick continued emphatically, waving a hand. "There are struggling first-graders out there who need those exact titles."

Judy let her head fall against the bars with a _thunk_. "Nick, we have – " she checked her phone, " – _three_ hours until we have to be back at this station to work the jobs we _both_ hopefully still have. And yet here you are, being completely unhelpful and uninformative."

Nick opened his mouth to protest, but something caught his eye and he cursed. "Damn it, Finnick. Doesn't anyone ever repaint these stupid cells?" he asked, before balling up his fist and rubbing furiously at his name and phone number on the cell wall. He fished around in his pocket for something, ignoring Judy's glare as he let out a sound of delight when he found a pen.

"Let's see… Call," he scribbled through his name, "… _Judy_ _Hopps_ ," he said aloud as he wrote, and the bunny glared harder as he scratched through 'a good time' and wrote, "… for a _lecture_."

She dragged a hand down her face.

Nick pointed at the wall. "I'm not actually going to write your number on there, but you see where I'm going with this."

"Nick, do you want to go home or not?"

The fox tossed the pen over his shoulder and folded his arms. "That depends. You gonna bail out Old McDonald, too?"

"Jumps got bailed out hours ago," Judy informed him hotly. "Just like you would have, if you'd actually called me. I can't believe you planned to stay in here all night! Because Bogo would've just loved that, you know. Walking into the station to see you in the holding cell instead of at your desk."

"And just a little tip, since this seems to be so difficult for you," Judy continued heatedly, ignoring him when he opened his mouth to protest, "Whenever a security guard tells you he's going to throw you out of a bar for fighting, the proper response is never – _Not if you can't catch me."_

"Which he did, obviously."

Judy dropped both hands to her side and groaned loudly. At last, Nick seemed to take pity on her; he approached the bars and leaned against them with one arm.

After a moment of silence, he said quietly, "I didn't start that fight."

Judy eyed him for a moment before she pressed her hand against the bars, her fingers brushing his. "I know."

"Oh? And how do you know that?"

Lips quirked in a slight smile. "Because I know you," she told him softly. The two exchanged meaningful looks for a moment before Judy pulled away a little and waved a hand. "Now, do I think you were almost certainly the first one to open your mouth? Oh, yeah."

Nick smirked.

Judy continued, "And do I think you could have made almost _any_ other decision in order to avoid this exact situation? Definitely. For sure. One hundred percent."

This time, the fox leaned forward and finished for her, "And do you love me anyway, despite my many, many flaws?" The bunny smiled slowly, the expression happening quite against her will as Nick went on, "Yes. Yes, you do." He paused. "Right?"

Judy reached between the bars and tugged on his tie, curling it around her hand as she looked up at him. "Right," she murmured tenderly. The two looked each over for a moment. "Are you ready to leave, Nick?"

The fox paused to consider this. "Yeah, I guess a shower couldn't hurt my chances while I plead for my job tomorrow," he noted. Rolling her eyes, Judy pulled away from the cell and gestured to Brooks, the lion who stood guard over the holding cells at night. Snickering at Nick, he shuffled forward and unlocked the cell, before beckoning Judy over to the desk. "Gotta sign the paperwork for ole jailfox over here," he teased, handing her some papers.

"Ooh, ho, you are so funny," said Nick as he brushed himself off and stepped out of the cell.

Judy scribbled down some information on the papers. "Sign your paperwork," she told him. "It's about time we get to bed."

Nick fished around in the box of evidence for his things, tucking his wallet and phone back into his pockets. "I don't know why you're so gung-ho to get back," he said to her as she finished up her paperwork. "Three hours of sleep isn't going to do us much good." He reached for the papers and signed his name on a few.

Judy picked up her bag and sauntered past him, leaning over to whisper as she passed, "Who said anything about sleep?"

She was out of the door before Nick's mind finally registered her words, and he quickly shoved the papers back at Brooks before hurrying out after her.

"Wait – Judy, wait for me!"

* * *

 _Tick. Tick. Tick._

If there was any sound more uncomfortable than the ticking of a clock, Nick couldn't think of it. Then again, Chief Bogo's angry breathing probably deserved a spot in the top five.

Nick and Michael Jumps had been seated in front of Bogo's desk for nine excruciating minutes, but Bogo still hadn't spoken. Instead, he'd glared, huffed, shuffled his papers, snapped at someone on the phone (Clawhauser) and then finally marched in front of his desk, massive shoulders tight.

Michael sat in the chair next to Nick, looking appropriately terrified. He hadn't spoken to Nick upon entering, but he definitely looked more sober and cowed than he had last night.

At last, Bogo grunted and spoke.

"Fighting… in a bar… " he bit out, "… in full view of the public. Like two imbecilic, immature, drunken idiotic _frat boys_!"

Michael and Nick both jumped at the sudden volume of his voice.

"Why," Bogo's voice dropped to normal tones again, grated and almost despairing. "Why am I cursed with such incompetent morons who take it upon themselves to test just how far my mercy goes? Does this entire department wake up in the morning and think – You know what would help my career? If I _pissed off_ my police chief to the point where he'd rather go down a slide of razor blades into a pool of alcohol than look at you _screw-ups_?"

Michael fidgeted. "Ah, to be fair, sir, this is the first time I've screwed up – "

" _You've been here a month_!"

The rabbit slipped back further in his seat. "Y – Yes sir, you are correct. E - Excellent point."

In his own chair, Nick cushioned his chin in his hand and observed the pair with detached interest. When Bogo's attention snapped to him, he clicked his tongue. "You know, Chief, I think this whole thing is just getting blown way out of – Ow!"

Nick and Michael jumped at the same time when two lab assistants, both of whom had entered the office silently from behind them, poked their arms with needles. "What in the hell?" Nick drew back his arm and the lab assistants wandered off with a healthy amount of blood from both of them. "What was that for?"

"A drug test," snarled Bogo.

"Man, that hurt like Hades," Michael rubbed his arm.

"A drug test?" repeated Nick incredulously. "Oh, for God's sake, you think this is Night Howlers?"

"A fox and a rabbit get into a fight in full view of anyone with eyes, that's warrant for a few extra questions," bit out Bogo, before he folded his thick arms. "And the Mayor told me to do it. So shut your mouth."

"Wasn't no drugs," muttered Michael. "We just had a disagreement, that's all."

Nick glared from his seat, but said nothing.

Bogo went on, "We don't need a panic. The drug test is to reassure the public just in case this fight gets out. As of right now, it appears the area was contained quickly and there were few witnesses." Bogo observed them both, then let out a heavy sigh. "And we do not want media all over this, which is why, despite my better judgement…" his nostrils flared at this, and he went on with a great deal of reluctance, "We are just going to forget this ever happened."

Michael visibly exhaled in relief, while Nick simply blinked before lifting his head and fighting back a laugh. "Ah, the old rug-and-a-sweep. Love it."

He hopped down from his chair. "Can I go back to work now?"

Bogo cut his eyes in Nick's direction, but he didn't stop him, so Nick marched out with Michael shuffling behind him, the living embodiment of shame and embarrassment. Waiting anxiously outside of the office was Judy, and she rushed to Nick as soon as he appeared.

"Well?" she asked, lavender eyes wide.

Nick made a cutting motion over his throat. "Bogo said I could keep my job, but it would cost my first-born. Good thing we don't plan on procreating."

Judy's ears flopped back to her head and she glared.

"It's fine!" Nick reassured her smugly. "I cornered Bogo, got him to give in, kept my job and maybe even got a raise."

Michael stopped next to him and shot him his most affronted look, making Nick sigh heavily and shrug his shoulders. "Or it was something like that. Anyway, point is, I get to keep my job."

Judy exhaled in relief, a brilliant smile jumping over her features. "That's great! Now, we can get back to the case and get this thing solved." Turning to Michael, she bit her lip. "I'm so sorry for what happened. Are you okay? Did you get to keep your job, too?"

At Judy's kind words, Michael glanced uncertainly at Nick, who simply folded his arms and said nothing. The male rabbit shifted uneasily on his feet and nodded to Judy. "Yes m'am," he said weakly. "All good to go."

"Awesome," Judy smiled. "Okay, well, I've got to go cross-check some things, but Nick, you know where to find me." With that, she dashed off to the computers, though she got stopped by Clawhauser, who chatted with her about something. Seeing that Judy was distracted, Michael turned to Nick.

"You, uh… didn't tell her what I said, did you?"

Nick's green eyes shifted to Michael's anxious features. "Jumps," he said with furrowed brows, "nothing you've said since the day we met has been worth repeating, last night's little conversation least of all."

Michael tucked his head against his chest, eyes darting around the station warily. "Hey, look, I'm sorry – "

"Oh, you don't have to tell me."

The rabbit paused long enough to work past a glare. "Alright, so I had a little too much to drink and I said some things I shouldn't have."

"Right," Nick said with a knowing nod. "Because a few beers always makes someone say things they've never once thought."

Michael scowled. "Hey, I admit it. I do think you bein' with Judy is weird and kinda gross, and just outright wrong, okay? But I shouldn't have said that to you. Ain't none of my business. I just wanted to piss you off, and that was the easiest way." At Nick's eyeroll, he shoved his hands in his pockets and shrugged a shoulder. "But I think it's – at least, kinda nice of you to protect Judy."

"I don't have to protect Judy," cut in Nick. "She protects herself. And if you don't believe me, go and tell her what you said. See what happens."

Nick watched as Michael shifted and glanced at Judy, who stood several feet away, chatting amicably. He shifted again, his expression twisting with a grimace. "Naw, I'm good."

"That's what I thought," said Nick. "And I hope this takes care of that little crush you had on her, too."

At this, Michael shot him an incredulous look. "Crush?" he repeated. "I don't have a crush on Judy!"

"Oh, please," Nick rolled his eyes. "Why wouldn't you?"

"Well, for one, I'm _married_."

The fox made a disbelieving sputter with his mouth. "Putting a wedding veil on a stalk of corn doesn't count here in the big city, Jumps. Sorry."

Huffing, Michael glared up at Nick. "Come on, can we just shake hands and be done with this?" He extended a hand to Nick, who observed it with disinterest for several seconds before he finally took it and gave it a shake. As he did so, his eyes spotted some hints of discoloration on Michael's hand.

"These from last night?" he asked, looking at the several cuts on Michael's knuckles, some fresher than others. The rabbit immediately yanked his hand and scoffed.

"You wish," he muttered. "You fight like my Grandma."

Nick squinted. "You fight your grandmother a lot?"

Throwing up his arms, Michael turned away from Nick, grumbling as he walked away to his desk on the other side of the room.

Nick watched him go, gaze narrowed and suspicious.

* * *

The day concluded with some more paperwork, though it seemed they'd hit a bit of a dead-end with the case for the time being. Judy did not take that impediment well, and Nick had to practically drag her away from the desk at the end of the day.

Besides, he had some thoughts on the case. And it was nothing he wanted to discuss in the station.

"Mm, I love noodles," Judy sucked in the tail-end of a noodle from her take-out box, momentarily distracted from her anxiety by food. She crossed her legs on the floor as she leaned over Nick's coffee table to bring some vegetables to her mouth with chopsticks.

Nick ate his own food with less relish, and after a few minutes, Judy put aside her utensils and folded her hands in her lap. "Okay, Nick. What's on your mind?"

He didn't bother to argue against Judy's intuition, instead setting his own food aside and eyeing her for a long moment before speaking. "I think Jumps is up to something."

Judy made a face, internally digging for all her patience as she asked calmly, "Such as?"

"It's just," Nick shifted in his spot, ignoring his food completely. "I've been noticing stuff lately, and last night, that whole fight - I mean, come on, who does that? Just attacks someone in a bar? Bogo even thought it was weird. He drug-tested us to make sure we weren't hopped up on Night Howlers."

"Really?" Judy winced. "That's pretty bad." She paused, falling into a thoughtful silence. "But what do you think it means?"

Nick brought up a hand and rested it against his temple, not taking his eyes away from her. "I think it means he's possibly violent. And I also think that might be more relevant to us and our case than we realize."

At this, Judy's eyes widened, before she let out an incredulous laugh cut short by dawning realization. "Nick, you're not suggesting that Jumps might be our killer, are you?"

The fox shifted, but didn't deny it.

"Nick, listen to what you're saying. You're talking about Michael Jumps here. A guy who once spent twenty minutes talking to me about his grandmother's oatmeal recipe." At Nick's uncharacteristically serious look, Judy blinked and pushed aside her food so she could see him clearly. "You're really suggesting this."

Nick waved both hands. "I've been thinking about this for a while, Judy. I mean it."

"Nick," exhaled Judy. "I know you don't like him – "

"It's not about that," interrupted Nick vehemently, having anticipated this exact conversation. "Look, I know he and I have had our disagreements, but I really think this is important! And maybe all of this is why I never liked him, huh? Maybe I didn't trust him from the start." He tapped his temple. "I'm pretty good at reading mammals on first glance, you know."

Judy's brows furrowed. "You told me I was a token bunny who was going to end up homeless under a bridge. And then you let me walk into wet cement."

The fox glanced around before shrugging. "Well, I didn't say I was a fortune teller, okay? It's just – No, really. I mean this."

Sighing, Judy looked him over for a moment before she settled in a comfortable position and faced him. "Okay, Nick. I'll hear you out. What's your evidence?" she asked calmly.

Suddenly animated, Nick shifted around the coffee table with a flourish of his hands. "Okay, so we know the killer has predominately white fur, right? Jumps is white."

Judy raised a brow, unimpressed.

Nick continued, "He's an effective fighter, definitely good enough to take down the smaller mammals like the murderer did with his victims."

"But the witness Pheasant said the guy she saw was bigger than you," pointed out Judy. "If that was really the killer, that's too big for Jumps."

Nick shrugged. "We don't know for sure that was the killer, and even if it was, bigger than me isn't all that big. Jumps could have easily made himself look that way with an oversized coat. It's not out of the realm of possibility." He pointed. " _And_ the most recent murder happened right when he came strolling into town, remember? Plus, Judy," Nick leaned closer. "When we fought at the bar, he dropped a huge hunting knife. And then he snatched it back up, like he didn't want anyone to see it!"

Judy tilted her head. "Lots of bunnies in the country carry knives, Nick. I used to have one for cutting rope."

"But do you still carry it with you?"

"Well, no – "

"Exactly," Nick went on. "Not only that, but he says he's married."

"So?"

"So, I've heard Tsume say more than once that Jumps lives alone. Why would he lie unless he's trying to hide something?" asked Nick. "I also noticed today that he has cuts all over his hands. Evidence of a struggle, maybe?"

Judy bit her lip. "I mean, all of that is pretty odd, yeah… But," she shifted in Nick's direction. "Accusing your co-worker of murder is a pretty big deal, Nick. You can't just go around saying that stuff lightly."

"I'm not accusing him," Nick relaxed a little and leaned against his couch. "I'm telling you, my partner, that I have my suspicions about him. Heavy suspicions." He paused, a slight frown on his lips. "Do you believe me at all?"

The bunny watched him carefully before inching across the floor, scooting until she was right next to him. "I believe that you believe in what you're saying. So I'll pay close attention to Jumps."

Nick made a face, but it was about as good as he was going to get for right now. Judy was not a bunny who was easily convinced of anything without all the facts. "You promise?" he asked. "Because if he lets his guard down, or if he tries to do anything suspicious at all – "

"We'll get the killer, Nick. Whoever it is," she said firmly, curling her hand over his. "And we'll both be extra careful around Jumps, okay?"

The fox nodded reluctantly, his attention shifting away from the case and on to the bunny who curled against his side. A storm rumbled outside the windows, and he smiled a bit to himself, remembering the night she had slept on the couch with him.

"You want to stay over?" he asked, because she hadn't since that night (not counting the three hours she'd spent with him the night before his meeting with Bogo). Judy looked up at him, features colored with surprise.

"No pressure," he told her quickly, shifting a little so he could face her. "I'll even sleep on the couch if you want, and you can have the bed. I just thought I'd offer since… well, mostly selfish reasons. I like having you around."

Judy's lips quirked at his admission. "Staying over sounds good," she said slowly, smiling more as she tucked into his side again, just as the pitter patter of rain began against the glass windows. "And you can sleep in the bed with me. You have my permission." She grinned up at him, before she reached up to the table and snatched her carrot-shaped cookie from where it had sat deserted with her noodles.

"But you can _not_ have my carrot cookie."

"Oh, no," smirked Nick. "Whatever shall I do?"

* * *

Despite the stormy night, the morning dawned golden and clear.

Squinting against the incoming light from the window, Nick breathed in deeply and settled comfortably against his bed again. It took him a moment to remember it was their day off, and he relaxed. His arms wound tighter around the warm body next to his, and for a moment, he was confused by the comforting weight against his front.

Ah, right. Judy.

Opening his eyes and seeing the back of her head, Nick's lips quirked at a smile. He settled his muzzle on top of her head, and she slept on, blissfully unaware and snuggled deep into the covers. After a few minutes of enjoying the closeness, Nick slipped out of the bed and went to the bathroom.

As he left and prepared to come back to bed, a noise in the kitchen stopped him in his tracks.

His senses instantly on alert, Nick moved quietly down the hall, his body tense. Rounding the corner in only his sleep pants, the fox spotted his kitchen and open fridge door. However, he couldn't actually see anyone beyond his island counter. All that was visible was the door as it closed again, and then the very tips of something white as it shuffled out of view.

Nick's body slumped and he reached up a hand, dragging it down his face as he came into the kitchen and rounded the counter.

"Finnick, what in the hell are you doing in here?"

Turning sharply on his heel, the tiny fox with overly large ears eyed Nick with absolutely no surprise and even less concern. "What's it lookin' like?" he grunted. "I'm eatin' breakfast. Or I'm trying to, anyway. God, when do you ever get food? I'm starvin' in here!"

"You know it's eight o'clock in the morning, right?"

"Yeah, cause I can tell time." Finnick shook an empty cereal box. "You're disappointin' me real bad over here, Nicky." At Nick's pointed Look, the fox turned and pointed at his taller friend. "What's your problem, anyway, huh? You got somewhere to be? No, didn't think so." He moved to skirt around Nick, but he paused and his snout lifted in the air. He sniffed around Nick and then stopped suddenly, eyeing his friend as Nick looked away, hands on his hips, because Finnick's smug look was just too much.

"Oooooh, I get it," griped the small fox, waving his arms grandly. " _Now_ I understand!"

"Shut up."

"I was blind, but now I see!"

"Can you keep your voice down?" rushed out Nick, making shushing motions with his hands.

"I can see _clearly_ now, the rain is gone!" went on Finnick loudly, ignoring any and all of Nick's attempts to quiet him and his overly deep voice before the soft shuffling of feet interrupted the two foxes and they both looked up to see Judy, eyes still sleepy and torso clothed in an overly large sleep shirt and shorts, standing in the door of the kitchen.

"Oh!" she said, spotting Finnick, a full blush instantly blooming on her cheeks. "I.. uh, thought that sounded like you, Finnick." She paused before saying cheerfully, "Good morning!"

Finnick took a seat on a stool and fished around in the cereal box. "S'up."

"He was just leaving," started Nick, but Finnick cut him off.

"You know, I wouldn't have to scavenge in your kitchen like a damn hyena if you hadn't left me to hustle on my own, you ungrateful sack of fur!" He pulled out a single Cheerio and popped it in his mouth. "Been with this fool since first grade!" he continued, looking pointedly to Judy. "And what does he do? Drop me! Hang me out to dry like – like – "

"Laundry?" supplied Judy, but Nick simply shook his head.

"Yeah!" exclaimed Finnick enthusiastically, before pointing at Nick again, his large eyes narrowed and his ears pinned back. "You cut me real deep, you know that? You coulda made up with her again without bein' a cop. She liked you enough!"

With a deep sigh, Nick looked over at Judy and smirked just a bit. "Good morning," he said, and Judy smiled sincerely to let him know she wasn't bothered by the unconventional wake-up call. She rounded the corner of the counter and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, which made Finnick roll his eyes.

"Didn't realize I was in the middle of a Nicholas Barks novel," muttered the fox. "Bunch of saps."

"Hey," Judy rounded to face the two of them. "How about I go across the street and get us all some donuts?"

"You don't have to do that," said Nick quickly.

"Oh, I know," she smirked. "But I want a donut, and I figured it would be rude not to share."

Finnick leaned forward eagerly, "Shut ya' face, Nick! Let the bunny do what she wants!" he turned to Judy. "… Can I get chocolate glaze?"

"Got it," Judy chirped, picking up a five dollar bill from on top of Nick's pile of pocket change. "And Nick can pay, since he owes me about three months rent for bailing him out," she said cheekily.

"Yeaaahh," he swept a hand over his ears. "I'll get that to you today." He observed her with undisguised affection. "Have I mentioned you're the best?"

"Not nearly often enough," she told him with a laugh, ducking away to change into a pair of jeans quickly before turning and heading out of the door.

"You got arrested again?" Finnick let out a bark of laughter and slapped his knee. "You got some nerve, Nicky." Nick turned to Finnick and cut his eyes at him in a glare.

"Oh, yeah, and that reminds me," said Nick heatedly to Finnick. _"Stop_ writing my phone number on sh – "

Judy shut the door and walked out, giggling.

* * *

The following workday had barely started when Bogo's voice called out.

"Hopps! Wilde!"

The pair lifted their heads from where they'd been talking at their desk, and Nick scowled. "Oh, come on. What did we do now?" he asked, but when Bogo appeared in front of them, his expression was altogether different from what they had expected.

"Get your car," he told them gruffly. "There's been another victim."

Judy and Nick exchanged wide-eyed glances, and Judy was the first to jump to her feet, snatching the patrol car keys from the desk. "No!" she growled to herself, something dangerously close to a curse forming on her lips as her fist curled tightly around the keys. "Come on, Nick."

Bogo handed them a print-out transcription of the emergency phone call. "Here's all we know. Now hurry up. Emerald Isle is across town, you'll need to beat the morning traffic."

The pair froze in place, and Nick Wilde's features took on a whole new level of terror.

"Emerald Isle… the assisted living community?" he asked, his voice sounding strangely far away in his mind. Bogo looked at him just long enough to nod his head firmly before stalking off.

Judy turned her fearful gaze up to Nick, but he wasn't looking at her.

"Let's go," she said, tugging on his sleeve.

He snapped out of his stupor and looked at her for barely a moment before dashing out of the door.

* * *

Author's Note: And with that terribly mean cliffhanger, I bid you guys good-bye until July!


	10. Chapter 10

Author's Note: Ta-da! I used some spare time in the afternoons to write this chapter. Thank god it wasn't supposed to be a humorous one. I've been feeling so homesick. It was pretty easy to channel that into this chapter.

* * *

Judy insisted on driving.

Probably for the best. Nick couldn't release his grip on the emergency phone call transcription in his hand.

* * *

 _Responder: 911, What's your emergency?_

 _Caller: My – my name is Olivia Myers, I'm a – [sob] receptionist - at Emerald Isle. There's – oh, god. There's been an – accident, or attack, something._

 _Responder: Take a deep breath, Ms. Myers. What kind of attack? Are you injured?_

 _Caller: No, not me – it's – oh, god. It's so awful. We just – we found her –_

* * *

The red and blue lights whirred overhead, blaring too loudly for anyone's comfort as Judy weaved in and out of traffic, moving with all the speed their patrol car could muster. She spared a glance at Nick, who stared straight ahead.

* * *

 _Responder: Who? Do you need an ambulance? [pause] We're sending an ambulance to your address now._

 _Caller: There's so much blood, please come soon, send the police, send anyone!_

 _Responder: Someone is on their way, m'aam. Can you tell me anything about who was attacked? Is the attacker still there with you? M'aam? Stay on the phone with me until the emergency responders arrive._

 _Caller: I'm – I'm here. Oh, I'm so sorry... We should have called as soon as she went missing last night._

 _Responder: Who went missing, Ms. Myers?_

 _[…]_

 _Responder: Ms. Myers?_

 _[…]_

 _Caller: One of our nurses. Melissa._

* * *

Judy wheeled the car into the parking lot of the community and jumped out. Nick joined her in an instant, the transcription of the call left behind in his seat, green eyes scouring the parking lot; the normally placid space was quickly drawing the attention of locals and media alike. Nick and Judy hurried past the ambulance workers and into the building housing the lobby, straight to the front desk where they normally checked in to visit Ella.

"Mister Wilde! Miss Hopps!"

A rattled otter called out to them, and they turned in unison, heading to the trembling receptionist. Her hands trembled around a bottle of water. "Oh, I'm so glad you're here," she managed tearfully.

"It's good to see you're safe, Olivia," greeted Judy, sparing a look at Nick to make sure he was alright. His eyes shifted uneasily around the room, which was busy with the community security and staff, though they'd managed to keep the media and public out thanks to their gated entryway. "Where's the rest of the staff?" asked Judy, turning her attention back to the otter. "We'll need to question you all as soon as possible."

The receptionist nodded, brushing away tears from her eyes. "I – I can get them." At Nick's distant stare, she hurried to stand on wobbling legs. "Mister Wilde," she touched his arm. "Your mother…" Nick's eyes shifted to her, his expression frozen in a mask of strangely stoic indifference.

"She's okay," reassured Olivia. "She and the other residents are safe and guarded in the conference building."

Nick's throat clenched. "Thank you," he said after a moment. Olivia looked back to Judy.

"The rest of the staff is kind of scattered," she told her after gulping down some air. "I – I can tell them to gather in the break room until you can talk to them."

"Please do that," Judy nodded. "And tell them not to leave or talk to the media until we release them. I promise, we'll be along as soon as we can." The otter nodded and hurried off, and Judy breathed in deeply before turning to Nick. This wasn't the time or the place to embrace him, but she couldn't think of a time when she'd wanted to do so more. His entire body stood straight, stiff. Nothing about his features looked comforted or reassured. They wouldn't, she knew, until he saw her.

"Go check on the residents," she told him in a no-nonsense tone. "They need to know we're here. And we'll need to question them later. I'll talk with the EMTs, get an idea of what to expect when we go in there."

Exhaling slowly, Nick gave Judy one meaningful look before he nodded. "I'll be there in ten minutes," he promised.

The pair split off, and Judy met with the first responder, who led her away from the lobby and out into the community. Nick hurried down the familiar sidewalk, using every ounce of self-control not to break into a run. When he entered the conference building, the crowded room of elderly residents looked up, many letting out cries of relief to know that the police had arrived.

One voice in particular stuck out.

"Nick!"

Turning swiftly, Nick choked back a sob when he saw Ella Wilde, seated in her wheelchair and still wearing her nightgown, rushing to him. He quickly scooped her up in a hug, almost lifting her out of her chair. It wasn't until he pulled back to look at her that he felt himself breathe for the first time in twenty minutes.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," she reassured him in repeated whispers. "I didn't even know anything had happened until the security guards woke me up and made me come in here with all these old bitties."

He checked her over, even as she tried to brush him away. She hadn't been attacked, but 'fine' wasn't the word he would use to describe her. Maybe it was his panic, or perhaps his innate pessimism, but she looked weaker than she had in months. He remembered the nurse's mention of her fatigue, and the tests they'd run after.

No time to think about that right now.

"It's – It's bad, Mom," he told her quietly, stooping in front of her chair. "Just stay in here. We may have to come back and question everyone, okay? But whoever did this is gone."

"My brave son," murmured Ella, touching his face. "You go do your job."

He nodded, pulling away from her reluctantly and looking to the other residents, many of whom already knew him personally. "If everyone will just stay patient," he told them, voice much firmer now. "We'll come back and let you know when it's safe to return to your apartments." A murmur of acknowledgment assured Nick he had been heard, and he turned and left, returning to Judy on the other side of the community.

When he approached, she looked up at him with her features uncharacteristically twisted, large eyes shining and her jaw clenched. Nick slowed his pace as he reached her, his eyes darting to the hallway next to them.

"This is the clinical ward," Judy informed him, as the EMT left them alone. Her voice held just the slightest tremble, but she wasn't afraid, Nick noticed.

Judy Hopps was angry.

"The body hasn't been moved yet. We're waiting on the crime photographers to get here," she said, before turning and moving down the hallway.

"Have you seen it?" asked Nick.

Judy shook her head, her shoulders tight as they moved down the sterile environment, passing block after block of red tile set against austere white walls.

It was here the double doors waited, closed. Judy moved first and pushed them open, stepping into a short corridor which ended in a storage room. She reached forward and opened the heavy metal door.

The room had once been white.

Flinching, Judy pulled back from the scene for only a moment. Then she squared her shoulders and stepped out ahead of Nick, grim expression turning to the stained floor before she looked back up.

The pair of officers paused to take in the sight in front of them.

A skinned rabbit, strung up in the middle of the square room, faced them with features bereft of eyes and fur. Part of its limbs had given out, and the sinewy cords of muscle that had once held it together puddled with blood and tissue on the floor. The scent – it was _vile_ , stomach-turning – was almost as bad as the vision in front of them.

The blood had been deliberately smeared everywhere, and Nick felt something drip on his arm, so he looked up. "Judy," he said softly, pointing up. The bunny lifted her head and her features curled in disgust. The ceiling of the storage room was painted in streaks of red, bloody bits mixed with flesh in some places. In the center, it read two words.

 _TOO LATE_

Nick felt Judy hum with anger next to him, but she didn't say anything. Instead, she breathed in deeply and steadied herself before turning and heading out of the room. Nick's eyes lifted to the message, and an uncharacteristic vehemence brimmed beneath the surface of his skin.

He stepped out with Judy, jaw tightly clenched.

* * *

The forensics team arrived behind them, and Nick and Judy filled them on the few details they had before heading to the staff room.

Gathered inside was a small group of mammals, all of whom stood or sat in varying states of grief or mortification.

Together, they interviewed them one by one, away from the others.

* * *

"I'm the night-shift nurse manager," said a pig in blue-green scrubs, Marla.

Her eyes turned shamefully to the table in front of her. "We – We only keep a few nurses on at night, since most of the residents are asleep. Some of them stay the nurse's station in case a patient calls for help, others make the nightly rounds to the patient's apartments. Melissa was supposed to be at the front-desk." Marla paused, her shimmering eyes on the table as she wiped away another tear. "She – She went out for a break, about 3 AM. And she never came back."

"Why didn't you report that to the police immediately?" asked Nick.

Marla sighed. "We should have, I know. But Melissa- Oh, I hate to say this. But she was very flaky," she admitted. "She was even pretty close to getting fired. When she didn't come back from her break, we all thought she'd just left and ditched on the rest of her shift."

Judy leaned forward, lavender eyes trained on Marla. "What time was her body discovered? And by whom?"

"It was just after seven AM, when the morning shift was coming in," Marla told them. "Our custodian, Mister Wilkins. He's the one who found her."

* * *

The old weasel sat stiffly in his chair, and with every glance from Nick and Judy, he shrank back further against it.

"Don't be afraid, Mister Wilkins," Judy comforted, though it was without her usual warmth. Her eyes remained on him. "We're just going to get some details from you."

"W – Wasn't – nothing I could do, didn't know anything – "

"Just tell us what happened," she broke in. "How did you find her?"

"I – Just trying to do my job, can't think of – nothing – that bunny girl – "

Judy leaned forward. "Mister Wilkins," she spoke over him, keeping her voice calm but firm. "Tell me what happened when you found Melissa."

The elderly weasel looked up at her, eyes darting all over before he finally let out a little noise of hysteria. "I was just trying to do my job! Came in at six-thirty, like I do! And when – when I get to the closet, looking for bleach! Looking, I say! Not enough bleach for that whole room!" He shook his head vehemently.

"That dead bunny was in there. Found her and ran, ran to Stefan. That's all I know!"

* * *

"Stefan," Nick greeted from where he stood behind Judy; he couldn't bring himself to sit.

"Nick," the bull nodded to him, before his features pinched and he swallowed over a lump in his throat. "I mean – er, Officer Wilde."

"What happened when Mister Wilkins came and found you?"

The bull straightened slowly and looked out over the pair of officers. "I was just coming in," he told them. "I hear him screaming down the hallway, so I come to meet him, but he's running, and he finds me first. I couldn't get him to tell me what he was going on about. I don't think – I don't think he knew it was Melissa." Here, the bull paused to gather himself before continuing, "I didn't at first. I mean, it's… she doesn't even look… " he sighed heavily. "When I ran down there to find out what he was going on about, I wasn't even sure what I was looking at. There was so much blood."

Judy watched Stefan's face carefully. "Stefan, you're head of security. Who was working for you last night?"

"Alric," he said with a nod. "Good kid, but he's pretty new."

"And do we have access to the security footage last night?" asked Nick, rounding the table.

"Yes," Stefan stood swiftly from the table. "I'll get that for you now, officers."

* * *

"Alric Graham," Nick read aloud from a driver's license as he looked across the table at a young male tiger. "Haven't seen you around here before."

"I've only been here a few weeks," said the young tiger quietly, his eyes low. "I – I never thought… I never thought something like this would happen, not at a retirement community."

Judy took a seat in front of him. "Alric, you were working security for the compound last night. Were you alone?"

"No," he answered, looking up. "It was me and Burly. But since there are only two of us at night, we spend most of the night at opposite ends of the community. So I didn't really get to talk to him."

"Did you see anything out of the ordinary?"

The tiger shook his head solemnly. "Nothing. It was a completely normal night until Wilkins found – found Melissa."

"No one out of the ordinary checked in? You didn't see anyone on the grounds that you didn't recognize?"

"No, Officer Hopps."

* * *

The grizzly bear watched the two officers with undisguised irritation.

"Why're you questioning me?" Burly asked sharply, before they'd even began. "You should be out there, figuring out who the hell cut up Melissa and left her dead body in our storage room!"

Nick narrowed his eyes but kept composed. "That's what we're doing. And since you were one of two security officers on patrol last night, it's time we heard from you. What did you see?"

The bear grunted and shrugged. "Nothing out of the ordinary."

Nick folded his arms. "Well, then, you must not be a very good security officer if someone gets murdered on your watch and you don't see anything out of the ordinary," said Nick, watching as the bear growled and stood to his full towering height.

"Hey, we did all we could, okay? We can't be everywhere at once! They cut down our hours, and now we only have two officers on at a time! Give us a break, we can't catch everything."

The bear shrugged his large shoulders. "And unless someone scaled the twelve foot walls or the gate, you can bet that any stranger who came by would've gone through the lobby, where the nurse's station is. Ask one of them."

* * *

The small coyote lifted his head from his hands.

"There wasn't anyone," said Ellis quietly, claws scratching idly at the table. "I – I don't know who could've gotten in. And I mean, I was there almost all night! I should've gone and checked on Melissa when she didn't come back."

Judy looked up at a knock at the door, and she nodded to Nick, who accepted a small jump drive from Stefan. Nick showed it to her before tucking it into his pocket to review later. At the table, Ellis sighed, rubbing one hand over his face.

"So no one came through the lobby last night?" asked Judy.

Ellis shook his head, expression despairing. "No, we only had two or three calls from residents, so it was a slow night. Night-shift is usually pretty dull. We were just taking turns going to the residents, and there was never a time when the desk was left unattended. Marla was even there most of the night, but she left around two to do her rounds."

"And Melissa said she was leaving to go on her break when she disappeared?"

He nodded, before shrugging. "She's skipped out on her duties before. We really thought she was just going to call the next morning and make up some excuse."

* * *

The pair returned to Marla.

"Where does Melissa normally go on her breaks?" questioned Judy, and the pig paused to think.

"Out to her car, I think," she said, pointing. "Employee parking is near the south entrance."

* * *

By the time Nick and Judy made it out to the employee parking area, the rest of the forensics team had arrived, and news reporters crowded at the entrance to the lobby, desperate to get inside, hear a word of a conversation, snap a picture. Fortunately, Nick and Judy were able to sneak around them to the employee parking lot, and after taking a cue from Marla, they crossed the asphalt alone, in the direction of a small blue compact vehicle.

Once they reached it, Judy moved away from Nick and rounded the car thoughtfully, her eyes sharp on the apparently undisturbed car. When she came to the driver's side, she reached out a hand and let it hover near the keyhole, where a long scratch ran down the length of the door. Judy's eyes followed it down to the asphalt. When she crouched on her knees, she spotted something shining under the car.

Reaching forward, she pulled a set of car keys, complete with a garish, brightly colored keychain, from beneath the vehicle where they'd been dropped. Nick stopped next to her.

"She made it to her car," Judy said grimly. "This is where he grabbed her."

"The security footage doesn't come this far," Nick informed her. "Stefan said it only covers the corner of the lot closest to the door. There wouldn't be anything showing us what happened here."

The keys shifted in Judy's hand, and she rubbed a thumb over one in particular. It was labeled with sharpie – TRUNK. Turning her eyes over the vehicle, she moved around Nick and rounded to the back, where she pulled the key between two fingers and slowly extended it towards the trunk.

Then she stopped.

"What?" asked Nick, watching her face carefully. "Aren't you going to open it?"

"Something isn't right," Judy curled the keys in her hand, away from the trunk. Stooping again, she peered all under the car, and after several minutes of searching, belly to the ground, she spotted a strange wire across the bottom. It split off in two directions, close to the trunk of the car.

She stood away from the vehicle and pocketed the keys. "I've got a better idea."

Fifteen minutes later, Nick and Judy stood several feet away from the car, both of their hands wrapped around a rope. At the end of the rope was a crowbar, carefully wedged under the trunk lid. They counted, and on three, they both yanked on the rope, jarring the trunk lid as hard as they could manage.

Even from twenty feet away, the explosion knocked them both off their feet.

They both shrieked, landing hard on the asphalt right next to each other, and Judy was the first up, hopping to a stand as she gaped at the sight in front of her, her lips parted.

The car blazed, fully engulfed in a hot, crackling fire that pushed a heat towards them even from a distance.

Their crowbar had worked. The trunk was open. And hanging in the trunk, housed in a pit of flaming metal, was the stretched out skin of Mellissa.

It was also wearing something she hadn't been – a cheap costume-like imitation of a police uniform.

Eyeless, expressionless, motionless against the flames, the morbid caricature loomed in the trunk like a popup page from a children's storybook. Judy advanced slowly, her hands dropping to her sides; she felt Nick move behind her.

"Hopps! Wilde!"

Other officers called for them, but the fox and the bunny stayed where they were, unable to look away.

* * *

They each sat in stiff office chairs, securely tucked away in an unused room behind the podium stage at City Hall. Nothing had been said for a long while. The air felt thick.

Judy slammed a hand down on the arm of her chair, the motion sudden and jarring.

"I told myself I wouldn't let that maniac get to anyone else," she seethed, her fingers curling on the edge of her chair. "I promised myself, and what happened? Someone else _died_. Because we couldn't get to him fast enough, Nick."

The fox looked up from his own hunched position on the plastic chair. "I know," he murmured.

Just then, Bogo appeared at the door then, his features set in hard lines. "It's time, you two."

Judy and Nick looked away from each other to the door, and then, with a great deal of reluctance, they headed out of the room and out into the main hall, where reporters gathered eagerly, anxious for a statement from the star police officers at the head of such a grisly case.

"Don't blame me," muttered Bogo as they walked. "I didn't want to do a press conference, but the mayor insisted."

Bogo stepped up to the stage ahead of the morose pair, but he wasn't the one who introduced them at the podium. Instead, Mayor Pardalis, a female ocelot who had taken Bellweather's place, took to the microphone as a hush fell over the crowd of reporters.

"And now," said the feline, standing on the tips of her furry toes, "I would like to present two well-known heroes, Officers Judy Hopps and Nicholas Wilde, who will tell you what we know so far about the tragic events of this morning."

Stepping aside, she gestured eagerly to the bunny and the fox, both of whom moved towards the podium under a barrage of camera flashes. Nick barely kept back a wince, but Judy took to the mic with only a small swallow to show her discomfort.

Several hands, paws and hooves shot into the air, and Judy held up a placating hand before the reporters quieted a bit, and she pointed to one.

"Is this murder tied to the death of Marsha Lumens over a month ago?" the ewe asked immediately, not giving Judy a moment to think about the first question before launching into another. "Are there more victims?"

Judy inhaled deeply. "Is there a possible connection to other murders? Yes." Pens scribbled furiously against paper, more cameras flashed. "But nothing has been confirmed," she went on. "We're doing our best to – "

"Does Zootopia have its own serial killer?" asked someone else, before another leaned forward.

"Officer Hopps, is this a cause for panic? Do citizens need to keep their children home from schools, stay away from work?"

"No, no," Judy shook her head furiously. "Caution is always advised, especially right now, but everyone needs to go about with their normal business. What's most important is to pay attention to your surroundings, and if you see anything suspicious, report it – "

"Is it true the latest victim was a female rabbit?" asked a moose. "Do you believe this was a threat made specifically against you?"

Judy blinked, caught off guard, but after a quick glance at Nick, whose eyes narrowed suspiciously, she looked back at the moose and shook her head. "I am not associated with the victim in any way, and this investigation is not about me – "

"And what about the location?" asked the same mammal, and a hush fell over the crowd of reporters as they waited, listening. "Is it not true that Officer Wilde's mother is located at the Emerald Isle Retirement Community?" Judy opened her mouth to respond, but the moose pressed on. "Can you really deny the obvious ties to both of you in relation to this murder?"

"How do you know any of that?" asked Nick, tense expression focused on the unapologetic reporter. "Where are you getting this information?"

The moose observed the pair of officers coolly. "I'm sorry, officers," he said without a hint of contrition, "My sources are entirely confidential."

Judy took to the podium again. She could practically feel Nick's fur standing on ends from where he stood, seemingly passive but fuming inwardly. "Well, your sources are wrong," she said firmly, holding tight to the edges of the podium. "We have no reason to believe this murder or any others were engineered to address us personally. This coward is doing everything he can to throw us off his trail, but it _won't work."_

Nick stepped forward again. "The location of the attack was a coincidence," he informed the crowd. "And there is absolutely no reason for a criminally insane mammal to target us, so take that off your books already – "

"No reason?" repeated the same moose, his tone derisive, skeptical. "Forgive me, Officer Wilde, but I find that difficult to believe."

Shifting in his spot, the moose looked up at them boldly. "After all, there are still many mammals within the city who have a great deal of resentment towards your…" the reporter's tone shifted here suggestively, " … _professional relationship_ with one another. Particularly as it pertains to prey-predator interactions."

Judy's heart leaped into her throat, but she kept her outward expression calm and unmoved. Her fingers twitched just a bit on the platform before she spoke in measured tones.

"No one in this city," she said, fighting off every tremor that threatened in her voice, "holds enough resentment about the working relationship of two police officers to murder an innocent mammal just to send us a message. Now, if no one else has any _relevant_ questions to ask, we're done here."

Nick and Judy turned away from the reporters, but this only prompted a barrage them with questions, creating a cacophony of voices clamoring to be heard over one another.

"Officer Hopps, have you been threatened before?"

"Could the killer be someone you know?"

"Where will he strike next?"

" _Do you fear for your own life_?"

* * *

From City Hall back to the police station, a fox and a rabbit sat in uncomfortable plastic chairs just outside of Chief Bogo's office door, listening numbly to the muffled shouts from within.

"… set up that press conference and then allowed those reporters to humiliate my officers!"

"Chief Bogo, need I remind you that as the mayor of Zootopia, I am your _boss._ I can have you replaced by tomorrow morning. Is that what you would like?"

"What I would like, Mayor Pardalis, is for you to explain to me what the point of all that was."

"The point is to keep the public informed to the degree necessary," stated the ocelot staunchly from within, her voice lower and more distant through the heavy wooden door. "And if you had done your job as I asked, today's little hiccup wouldn't have been an issue."

Bogo's angry snort was audible through the door. "I _did_ do as you asked," he growled lowly. "I talked to them about ending their relationship, and to what purpose? For your delicate political image following two criminal screw-ups in office? These are adults we're talking about! Good officers! And don't even get me started on that sly move you pulled, calling in those two shrinks on my day off, _without_ telling me, trying to make my officers feel like they're – sick or whatever you think they are – "

"I do what I do for the good of the city," came the unapologetic tones of the mayor. "And after a time such of turmoil, _social controversy and strife_ are the last things our citizens need. So, in conclusion, I suggest you do your job, Chief Bogo…"

Judy looked up dully at the ceiling. "Huh," she said quietly. "And here I thought I'd already had the worst press conference of my life."

Exhaling slowly, Nick turned his head to look over at Judy. "Are you ready to go home?" he asked in a murmur. Judy tilted her head in his direction and nodded tiredly.

Together, they stood, took one another's hands and left the station.

* * *

A day passed.

No further DNA was found at the crime scene, and after spending hours reviewing the security footage from the front desk, no new evidence was found. No one unknown passed through the lobby, and what little they saw of Melissa only confirmed what the other employees had said.

As soon as she left the frame of the outside security footage, she was gone.

For once, both Nick and Judy had to be pulled away from their work. Bogo finally ordered them home, and the fox and the bunny went their separate ways for the night.

That lasted until about 11 PM, when Nick called Judy, who had been waiting next to her phone, staring at the blank screen with no appetite and no heart, because both felt like they'd been left on the streets of Zootopia.

Nick came to Judy's place, another first.

Together, they sat on the narrow bed, listening to the wind whistle at the window, rattling the glass and giving the already decrepit building a more sinister air, cruelly fitting for their moods.

"That reporter was right about one thing," said Nick after a long while, and Judy shifted enough to look up at him, their faces close. He wasn't looking at her as he spoke, his eyes low, unfocused on the bedspread.

"That malicious bastard isn't just leaving some fun surprises for us. He threatened us." Green eyes turned up to Judy's face. "He chose a bunny for a victim. He dressed her up like a cop. And he rigged that car to explode… and he did it all twenty _feet_ from where my mother lives."

The rabbit watched his face carefully. "Do you still think Jumps might have something to do with it?"

Nick fought the urge to curl his fingers tight. "He wasn't at work that night," said Nick stiffly. "It's a possibility."

Judy pulled herself further into the circle of his arms. "Whoever it is, we can't let him get the best of us, Nick. We can't let him win."

Nick closed his eyes and leaned his head against hers, his mother's thinning face appearing in his mind again. The image faded away, replaced with the memory of the bunny skin, hanging separate from its body, dressed in a blue uniform, cruel mockery at its finest.

"Aren't you afraid at all?" he asked in a whisper, knowing he was.

Judy's face turned up against his and nuzzled into his neck. "Of course I am," she murmured in reply. "I've always felt fear, Nick." Between them, her hand moved and closed over his, fingers curling tight. "But it's not all I have. It's not all I feel."

Their joined hands moved up, and Judy silently urged him to open his eyes. He did so gladly, because all he saw was her grey-furred face. "The fear doesn't get to control me," she told him, her lips quirking just a bit, her fingers at his snout prompting him to do the same.

"It's there," she admitted to him tenderly. "But it's not alone. _I'm_ not alone."

The air felt clear, like it hadn't in days.

"You're right," he told her, reaching up his free hand to sweep over her ears. "You're not alone."


	11. Chapter 11

Author's Note: Thank you guys for the lovely reviews! They made my time in Japan even better. I was quite homesick for a while, and every time I saw a review, it totally brightened up my day. Don't worry, though. Now that I'm back, these chapters will come rolling out. Hope you're ready...

Also, thanks again to Bearmauls for being a great beta! You're awesome!

* * *

The days following the press conference moved like a strained muscle.

Nick and Judy did their research, but three days after the disastrous showing at City Hall, they'd found nothing new at the crime scene. No DNA evidence, no witnesses. Every piece of the grisly environment they'd found so far was too superficial to be reliable, too carefully maintained to gain their trust. If that maniac was planting evidence, it likely led to a trail they didn't want to follow.

 _Thud_.

Nick looked up from the file he'd been staring blankly at in lieu of actual work to see Judy standing at the corner of their desk, her hand still pressed on the thick file of papers.

"What's this?" Nick tipped the front of the file open to see a group of mugshots.

Judy took a seat on the edge of the desk. "Just a list of possible suspects," she informed him. "These are all violent offenders who got out on bail and are reported to still be in the area. I thought it might do us some good to look it over."

Leaning back in his chair, Nick thumbed lightly through the files before lifting a brow at her. "Mm, let's see," he mused as he dropped the files back on the desk and tossed them aside one by one. "Fox. Fox. Coyote. Wolf. Cougar. Fox." He looked up at Judy again, letting the files fall flat against the desk.

"Scary looking list of preds you've got here," Nick noted, cocking his head at her. Judy frowned, but she didn't back down.

"I just looked through the database based on the criteria I told you, Nick," she told him. "And they're all within a reasonable size to fit the description we got from Pheasant Winslowe."

"Well," said the fox, a little more vehemently than necessary, "that's _great_ , but I personally plan to spend my time investigating someone who might actually have a dog in this fight, if you know what I mean."

Features pinched, Judy dropped off the desk and moved close to Nick. "Are you still talking about Jumps, Nick?" she asked in a heated whisper. "Come on! Nothing we found at the crime scene indicated he had anything to do with the murder."

"He wasn't at work," Nick pointed out, his voice low. "And no one from the station was with him. That means he has no alibi for that night. _And_ ," Nick held up a hand, "all of this happened AFTER our fight at the bar. Who knows? Maybe he decided to take it out on that nurse. Set it up to catch our attention."

Judy folded her arms. "For someone who's constantly talking about how stupid he is, you are giving him a _lot_ of credit."

Shrugging, Nick leaned against his chair again, eyes sweeping the bustling police station. Jumps wasn't in sight, but he was on duty. Somewhere.

"Oi! Wilde! Hopps!"

The pair of officers glanced up as McHorn approached their desk, expression wary. He moved his shoulders uneasily as he pulled something from his pocket and handed it to Judy.

"Thought you two might want to see this," he said, frowning.

Glancing quickly at Nick, Judy opened the newspaper in hand, only to see a picture of Nick and her splashed across the front page. It was just a still-shot from the press conference, but below that was a full-page article detailing – not the _criminal case_ , as it should have – but every nuance of Nick and Judy's interactions during the conference, as well as well over two paragraphs of speculation concerning their relationship.

Below that, at the bottom of the black and white page, was another picture of Nick and Judy talking together before the conference began, their heads close. The photo was paired with a rather suggestive caption. Below the main article was a set of quotes from various "eyewitnesses" who had seen them together in public.

Their accounts of Nick and Judy in public were often paired with their less than favorable opinions of the matter. As soon as Judy's eyes encountered the word _sick,_ she snapped the paper closed and, after a pause, she calmly placed it on their shared desk.

Nick, who had been reading over her shoulder, moved back into his chair with scarcely an expression to be seen. After a few moments of silence, Nick snorted and shook his head.

"Slow news day," he muttered.

"Thanks for bringing this to us," murmured Judy to McHorn, who nodded before offering her an awkward pat on the shoulder as he moved away. The chatter of the police station sounded like a dull, annoying buzz in her ears.

"We're okay," she told Nick quietly. "We're okay."

* * *

The following day promised a welcome respite. The weather was warm and sunny, the wind just strong enough to be pleasant, and both Nick and Judy were scheduled off from work.

From his spot at a café patio table, Nick turned a stirring stick in his cup of coffee, fighting off the effort to drift into a daze. Mammals moved all around him. Servers took orders and brought drinks. Trays clanged against tabletops. Someone's napkin got caught in the breeze, and a little cheetah jumped up to chase it.

"Heyyyyyy!" A voice rang out quite suddenly to Nick's left, and before he knew what was happening, a tall fox dropped onto the chair opposite his. "Nick Wilde! What's up, eh? Haven't seen you in years!"

Nick stopped his stirring and squinted. "Do I know you?" he asked flatly.

The other fox faltered, but only for a moment. "Aw, come on, you're all famous now, so you forgot me?" When Nick merely blinked in response, the fox groaned a bit. "Come on, we went to high school together! Jimmy! Jimmy Vulpine!"

Ah. He did actually know this fox, but only distantly. Jimmy Vulpine had hardly taken the time to talk to Nick in high school, and that had been quite a long time ago. Suddenly, though, the other fox made it sound like they'd gone to prom together.

"What can I do for you?" asked Nick in a tone that suggested he had no real intention of doing anything for him at all. Jimmy grinned, leaning back leisurely in his seat.

"Ah, nothing, nothing. Just saw you here and thought – wow, I should catch up with old Nick!" The taller flashed him a fanged smile. "So, you're the real deal nowadays, huh?"

Nick tried not at all to look interested in the conversation. "Real deal?" he repeated.

"Yeah, yeah!" The fox leaned forward. "You know, a cop! A hero! And hey, I saw that press conference on tv the other day. Wow, pretty brutal stuff."

He paused, falling silent when Nick's only response was to sip at his coffee.

After a moment of awkward silence, the fox shrugged his shoulders forward and hunched over the table. "But hey, at least you got other stuff going on, you know? So tell me, what's the deal with this bunny, huh?"

If possible, Nick's disposition towards the fox plummeted even further. "Why do you ask?" inquired Nick coolly. "Is there something specific you want to know?"

Jimmy shrugged again. "Eh, you know, I just thought – You know, I don't really remember who you dated in school, and after everything I read in the papers, I thought you might have some good dish for me. I mean, everyone's talking about it, but you're the fox who knows."

"Knows what?" deadpanned Nick. "I can think of a whole book's worth of things I know that you don't."

Jimmy didn't seem to catch the insult. "Come on, you know what I'm saying! I mean, I think it's totally cool you're doin' a bunny. Others may have a problem with it, but not me. I'm not ignorant like that. Plus," he dropped his voice, but not nearly enough for Nick's liking. "I gotta hand it to you. Bunnies? Exotic, right? I heard some stuff."

Nick raised a single brow, but didn't respond.

Jimmy plunged on unabashedly. "So you gonna tell me or what? Cause I heard about bunnies in bed, right? So I was wondering, do they really – "

"If you finish that question," Nick leaned forward this time, placing their faces close. "I will push you in front of the nearest oncoming vehicle and _shamelessly_ claim you committed suicide."

Jimmy blinked, grinning for only a half a second before he spotted Nick's narrowed gaze and set jaw. The other fox glanced around for a moment before standing slowly. With his eyes on Nick, he stepped away from the chair, backed up a few steps and then turned, hurrying away without another word.

Nick leaned back in his chair with a long exhale.

"Hey," Judy dropped into the seat next to Nick, her arms full of treats from the café's bakery. "Who was that?"

Nick sipped at his drink. "Some idiot."

Judy pulled out her baked goods before saying cheerfully, "Well, with you, that could mean anyone!"

Looking over at her, Nick's expression finally relaxed into a small smile. He watched as Judy fished around in the bag and pulled out a small pastry, although it looked large in her hands. "Look what I found for you," she said, edging closer.

Her fingers unfurled to reveal a heart-shaped blueberry tart.

Nick's lips quirked at a real smile, one which only grew at Judy's earnest expression. When he failed to respond, Judy inched the tart near her mouth. "Oh – Oooh, Nick, you better hurry. I'm going to…" she opened her mouth and prepared to take a bite. "…eat your blueberry tart!"

Nick rolled his eyes, but the irritation from earlier fell further and further away, replaced in an instant by a wild desire to eat that whole tart, because Judy would totally eat it just to spite him.

Gasping dramatically, Judy went to go bite the tart, but Nick was faster, and he grabbed her hand and licked the top of the tart, making Judy groan. "Nooo!" Judy laughed, letting him take a bite out of the tart straight from her hand.

Crunching on his bite, Nick snickered and broke off a piece, giving it back to her. "Probably no point in you being afraid of my germs by now," he pointed out.

"True," Judy nodded in agreement, popping a piece into her mouth and smiling with puffed cheeks. After they'd both eaten the small tart, they remained close on the overly large chair. Nick's eyes drifted over Judy's face; he let his head fall close. Judy brushed his forehead with hers, and the simple affectionate nudge was cathartic in a thousand ways.

It lasted for only a moment before Judy glanced up, pulling away enough to scan the café. Many of the patrons were looking at them, and her purple eyes shifted back to their table. The happy, safe feeling vanished like warm air out of an open window in winter.

"Let's go," said Nick, forcing himself to look away from the stares. They didn't have to deal with this. They could go home, back to his apartment, and pretend like nothing else lay outside of those simple white walls.

It was hiding. They both knew it. But sometimes, it felt too tiresome to do anything else.

* * *

It was late at night, long after Judy had gone back to her little shoebox apartment, when Nick's phone rang.

He picked it up, noting immediately how the voice on the other end sounded too alert for the late hour, too clinical for Nick's sleep-muddled mind, and after listening to the dry tones for just a few minutes, Nick forced himself up and into a blind, terrified walk that would later fade into a blur in his mind.

Twenty minutes later, he stood in the austere hospital corridor, unable to make himself sit, despite his exhaustion.

"She is very lucky," the doctor told him.

Nick lifted his head, his hands in his pockets. "She had a second stroke. How lucky can she be?" he asked, unable to keep the irritation out of his voice. The doctor frowned.

"Most mammals don't survive a second one, Mr. Wilde," the doctor informed him. "Your mother has symptoms to contend with, certainly – some left-side paralysis and vision loss. But she's speaking well, and she seems to have her wits about her."

Huffing bitterly, Nick looked away, up at the dim fluorescent light. It had bugs in it. Someone needed to clean it out.

"It'd take more than a stroke to rattle that woman's wits loose," he murmured, too low for the doctor to hear. The doctor continued to talk, telling Nick that Ella was now asleep and would be for a long while. He told Nick he could come back in the morning, there was nothing he could do here.

Nick planted himself in a chair in the hallway and waited.

* * *

Several hours passed.

Nurses bustled by. Doctors chatted in the distance. Doors opened and closed. Phones rang.

"Nick!"

He glanced up without moving his head, only to see a grey bunny standing in front of him, her lavender eyes shining as she crouched in front of him, her hands finding his where they sat on his knees.

"Nick, what on earth is going on?" asked Judy, her fingers curling over his. "I couldn't get a hold of you anywhere, and then Olivia at the front desk has to tell me that you're here? That _Ella_ is here? Nick, why?"

"I'm sorry," mumbled Nick, his voice hoarse. He didn't look directly at her.

"Is she okay?" asked Judy in a fearful whisper.

The fox remained silent. He didn't want to look at Judy's earnest features. He didn't want to remind himself that he was a selfish ass for not calling her immediately, because he knew how much she cared for Ella. He sat completely still, eyes looking over her head.

Some distant part of Nick's mind registered that Judy would probably get mad at him. He wished she would. Someone yelling might actually draw him out of this fog. Instead, she waited for him to speak, and when he didn't, she rose to sit in the hard plastic chair next to him.

The hospital continued on in the same fashion as before, but Nick and Judy sat in companionable silence for a long while. Finally, Nick let his head fall back against the wall, and he spoke to Judy, while looking at the ceiling.

"You know," he said, wondering at the same time if it was dawn yet, before realizing it must be, because Judy was already there. "It doesn't matter what else is going on in your life. You can be in the middle of something great… or you can be on the trail of a serial killer. It doesn't matter. Life – " he took a deep, trembling breath as Judy watched, attentive. "Life doesn't always give you room for a breather. And it's really unfair, but that's just the way it is."

He closed his eyes. "Because when your mom gets sick," his voice dropped and cracked a little, eyes pressed shut. "You get sick with her. Just like all those times she got sick with you."

He tried to press back the tear, but it managed to slip through anyway, damp against his fur. Just one, but the trail it blazed down his cheek burned like fire.

Judy's hand moved over his, smaller than his, but it felt so much stronger.

"Nick," she said softly, turning to face him even though he refused to look at her. "I know you're used to doing things by yourself. And if you want me to leave… I will," her own voice trembled. "But I won't go far," she continued more firmly. "And I'll wait. For when you want me to be here. Because you don't have to do things by yourself anymore."

Nick opened his eyes, turning his head slowly to look at her. Every breath felt like a tremor in his chest.

"You never have to do anything alone again," she promised him in a whisper. "Not if you don't want to. It's your choice. But no matter what you decide…" she touched her other hand to her chest. "I'll be nearby. Just in case you need me."

Ella's words rose to the forefront of his mind, as they did so often.

 _One thing you have yet to learn is how to show others you care._

 _Telling her I don't want her to get hurt isn't a good way to show someone I care?_

 _Showing her that if she DOES get hurt, you'll always be there… that might be a little better._

At last, Nick squeezed Judy's hand in return and let his eyes shift to hers, the image of her face coming into focus for the first time since she'd arrived. His voice was still hoarse, but it sounded better to his ears now, stronger.

He asked, "Have I ever told you… you are about a thousand times smarter than me?"

Judy blinked, caught off guard, but when Nick offered her a tiny smile, she bit her lip in an effort not to cry before she curled up in the chair next to him and tucked under his arm. He wound it around her small form and kissed the top of her head. "I'm not," she murmured, but Nick shook his head fervently, denying her argument with a series of tuts, earning a small, teary giggle from Judy.

"What can I do?" she asked, looking up at him. "How can I help you and Ella?"

Nick shrugged, ready to tell her there was nothing she could do. But when he looked down at her earnest expression, he pushed back the instinct to dismiss her help. "Well," he said with a sigh. "You can talk to Bogo and get him off my back about not showing up this morning."

"I called him before I got here," she said with a nod. "But I'll let him know what's going on. Hopefully we can get someone to cover your shifts." She frowned. "I'll probably have to go back. Bogo can't afford to lose both of us right now."

Nick nodded, and after a few more minutes of coffee and vending machine trips, Judy reluctantly left Nick at the hospital. After several hours, a nurse came to get Nick, and he was finally allowed to enter Ella's room.

Clinging to the strength he'd managed to scrounge up that morning in the waiting room, Nick crossed the hospital room to Ella's bed, where she dozed against a bed pulled partially up to a sitting position. The amount of wires and monitors around her bed and plugged into her fur almost sent Nick into a fit, but he reigned it back.

"Nick…" his mother reached forward and took his hand. "There you are. Big… worrier." Her speech was a bit slow, but it was constantly being interrupted by heavy breaths. She was just weak from the stroke, Nick told himself.

"Right here, as ordered," he teased, sitting on the edge of her bed like a little kid. One of the advantages of being a smaller mammal – the oversized furniture all but personally invited him to share Ella's space, be near to her. "Judy's at work," he told her tenderly. "But she was here, earlier." He swallowed past a lump that rose very suddenly in his throat. "She's the one who's worried about you, old vixen."

Ella laughed weakly. "Of course… She is – so sweet… and loving. Like you."

His mother touched his cheek, and Nick closed his eyes again, tears threatening. The stress of the past few months felt ready to topple over, and for one terrifying moment he could never explain, he saw in his mind's eye the body of that bunny from his mother's retirement home, pulled apart and viciously murdered.

He didn't feel sweet or loving. He felt tired and frustrated. So worried his heart was sick, and that sickness was leaking out into his limbs. Sick for the thought of Ella being in pain. Sick for the thought of those young victims. Sick for the thought of Judy being in danger, Judy being hurt. That psychopath was pushing them to their limit. He was laughing at them, he was trying to draw them out, make them slip up, and here was Ella, so weak it enveloped his heart in grief.

It was hard to think about moving forward with when every path felt completely eclipsed.

"Nick," his mother called his name again, and he re-opened his glassy eyes to look up at her. "You are alright," she told him, her voice suddenly firm, like it had been when he was a wayward teen. "You are strong. And Judy is strong. And I am strong. And you are doing so much good in this world. Day by day."

Nick struggled for words. "Aren't we supposed to be talking about you?" he asked at last, trying to sound light, but failing miserably. His mother smiled.

"We are talking about me, son… about how proud I am of you."

"I just want you to get better," he said stubbornly, sounding childlike and indignant, even to his own ears. "If there is a single good thing I do in this world, I want it to be that. I want to make you better."

"You do," she told him simply. "You always have." With that, she curled him close in her arms and held him in her own frail limbs until the nurse arrived and told them that visiting hours were over.

With one last loving reassurance, Ella made Nick leave and scolded him for missing work.

* * *

One of the televisions in the hospital waiting room played some kind of continuous news channel.

Sometimes it covered mundane local events or sports, but most of the time, it was a montage of the victims of the Morehouse case, along with snapshots of Nick and Judy, mostly working on the case, but sometimes there were candid shots of them out and about.

"I saw them in the park together," said a female tiger on the television, her taut expression making it quite clear how she felt about it. "Personally, I feel like this whole interspecies social agenda has gone too far. It's ridiculous, and I don't want my children seeing it."

An elephant vehemently agreed with her when interviewed next. "What's next? They gonna start teaching that kind of stuff in schools? It's not natural, and it's gonna tear this city apart, just like before when the preds were attacking everything!"

"It's sick is what it is," chimed in a passing gazelle when the reporter stopped her. "If one of my kids was a part of something like that…"

"Stop making it sound like some kind of cult," scowled a young female wolf from a nearby sidewalk, barely visible in the corner of the screen. "Two consenting adult mammals should be able to do whatever they want! It's not hurting you, and it's none of your business!"

"What would you do?" asked the reporter eagerly to the gazelle as she glared at the wolf. "If one of your children was involved in this sort of relationship?"

The gazelle scoffed and shifted to glare at the young wolf. "I'd put a _stop_ to it."

* * *

Despite Ella's scolding, Nick spent the next few days with her at the hospital, only returning to work after his mother had recovered a bit.

When he arrived at their desk with Judy, he realized it was covered in flowers, cards and gift-baskets. Astonished, he turned to see nearly all of the other officers standing nearby, huddled together and watching him.

"We didn't want to overload her room at the hospital," said Francine rather shyly.

Nick watched them for several moments, unable to speak until at last, he managed, "Thank you."

One by one, the officers approached him and offered genuine words of sympathy and encouragement. Though Nick had never made much of an effort to speak with many of them, it did not stop each one from promising to help cover any more shifts he needed, or transport the many flowers to his home, or cook meals that his mother might need once she got out of the hospital.

After they'd left, Nick moved slowly to his seat, which was almost entirely eclipsed by flowers and gifts. When he sat down and realized his view was completely obscured by bright pink petals, he leaned back in his chair and covered his face with his arms, hiding a few tears and a very small but real smile.

* * *

Nick and Judy didn't have much leisure time in the next few days.

Perhaps that was a blessing. Everyone could see the media becoming more involved in the case, more insistent on a private moment with Nick or Judy or really anyone in the station might offer some kind of inside scoop. If the papers weren't talking about the murders, they were gossiping about Nick and Judy, or sometimes even speculating on _other_ possible interspecies relationships in the city. Some of those relationships had already been well-known within their communities, but no one had cared. Not until now.

Bogo had been approached by an overly aggressive reporter only once. No one dared to repeat the mistake.

"Today's the day!" Judy beamed at Nick as they entered the hospital. The fox glanced over at her and allowed himself a little smile at her enthusiasm.

The pair came to a stop near a nurse, and Nick signed the release paperwork for Ella. After waiting a few minutes, they looked up to see the old vixen seated happily in her wheelchair, looking livelier than she had in days. Ellis, her usual nurse at the retirement community, wheeled her on with a wink at Nick and Judy.

"Time to return the queen to her domain," he teased, making Ella chuckle. She was still too thin and quite weak, but she was well enough to return home, at the very least. Nick and Judy accompanied her and the nurse to the transport vehicle that would take her to the community.

"Oh, I am just too ready," Ella told them from the back of the van, where Nick, Judy and Ellis all rode with her. "I bet that old Miss Bitterton has been messing up the garden. She has no idea what she's doing."

"I'm sure it's fine," Nick smirked, exchanging an amused look with Judy, who barely contained a giggle.

The van rolled on, moving away from the hospital and to the side of town containing the community. Nick let himself relax. The community had hired more security since the incident. Ella would be safe there, and she was happier when she was in her home. She would recover better once she was away from the hospital.

"What in the hell?" called the driver from the front, and the four mammals in the back looked up, peering through the windows of the van to see the front of Emerald Isle positively crowded with reporters and onlookers.

"Oh, no," Judy groaned, slapping a hand over her face.

The crowd was so thick, the van couldn't make its way through to the gate. The driver leaned on the horn, but the reporters only crowded in further, calling out questions muffled through the doors. Ellis peered out of the window and let out an angry grunt.

"Marcus," he called out to the driver. "Move them out of the way! We need to get Mrs. Wilde inside!"

"What'dya want me to do?" exclaimed the mole driver. "They're in the way! They won't move!"

"We have a patient in here!" snapped Ellis. " _My_ patient!"

Judy jumped up. "Nick and I will move them – "

"Don't," said Ellis immediately, touching her arm to slow her. He looked between her and Nick with a sigh. "No offense, but the last thing you two need is more press. Just stay in here and let me handle it. Okay?"

Nick and Judy glanced at one another before reluctantly sitting back down, even as anger stirred in Nick's chest. Ella frowned deeply as the shouts outside grew louder, the flashing of cameras bright even against the afternoon sun.

"Oh, I didn't want all this trouble," she murmured. "Not for you two. I'm sorry."

"This isn't your fault – " started Nick, but as soon as Ellis opened the door to jump out and clear away the reporters, one of the outsiders ripped open the door all the way and began to call in questions and take pictures of the inside.

"There are rumors that your mother was attacked, Officer Wilde!"

"Mrs. Wilde, do you approve of interspecies relationships?"

"Is your station actively trying to hunt down the murderer?"

"Do you believe it's someone in your family?"

Ellis and Nick jumped forward at the same time and grabbed the double-doors on the back of the van, pulling it closed with all their might before Ellis turned and shoved his way through the crowd. It took several minutes for him to reach security, and all the while, Nick, Judy, the driver and Ella Wilde sat in the dark van, doors locked, wishing for the loud clamoring voices outside to just go away.

After what felt like ages, the new and improved security detail burst from the entrance of the community and managed to push aside the group of spectators and media. The van turned and, at last, drove inside. The gate closed with a mechanical clang behind them, blocking off the last of the reporters.

The noises fell away, but Nick's anger was slower to fade. Still, it was Ella who was his focus, and he managed to push it aside and help get her up to her room. Ellis reappeared a little while later to introduce her to her new round of medications and make sure she was comfortable.

"Thank you," murmured Judy to the nurse, who simply nodded, his fingers toying distractedly with some tools.

"I wish I could do more," he said after a moment. "The way you and Nick are being treated is insane." He glanced over at her. "I'm sorry. I really am."

Judy accepted his words with a small smile. "We appreciate it."

It took a while to get Ella comfortable again, but eventually she faded off to sleep, and Nick and Judy finally took their leave of Emerald Isle and returned home.

They took the long way out to avoid the reporters.

* * *

It was raining again.

Nick haphazardly moved from one laundry basket to the next, sometimes folding his clothes, other times dropping them into piles that may be sorted later, who cared? He hadn't even owned a real laundry basket until he'd met Judy. It was fair to take slow steps at this point.

Glancing up at the grey-tinged sky out of his bedroom window, Nick's lips quirked just a little. He wanted to call Ella again to make sure she was okay, but the last one had ended with something like _… I will roll my bushy tail right to your apartment and pop you a good one …_ so he'd finally relented and just left her to relax with her friends, all of whom had swarmed the apartment as soon as the all-clear was given, ready to treat Ella in any way possible, because she'd been so missed.

Unfortunately, they hadn't been the only ones so eager to talk to Ella.

Those god damn reporters and bloggers and whoever the hell else, they still hadn't left Emerald Isle completely alone, not even three days after Ella's return. And they were sometimes prone to camping out at the places Nick and Judy frequented, ready to capture a shot of the two of them together, though fortunately, they didn't seem brave enough to loiter around the police station quite yet.

It was beyond exhausting. And not only because he and Judy weren't able to go outside comfortably anymore, but also because any time the newspapers or websites didn't have anything new to report, they would just make something up. Props for creativity, particularly on the one tabloid article last week about Judy practicing witchcraft and bewitching him, but on the whole, it was a bunch of trash and Nick hated it more than anything.

"Hey there."

Judy entered the room, pulling off her raincoat as she did so and pushing a hand over her damp ears. She hung it on a hook in the bathroom before re-entering, her eyes on Nick's face. "Laundry, huh? You must really be bored," she teased gently. Nick chuckled just a bit, turning one of his shirts this way and that before he chucked it over his shoulder.

"Yeah, well, the store is too far away for me to buy new ones, figured I'd actually wash something up," he informed her wryly, moving back to sat a seat on the edge of his bed, bouncing a bit. Judy tilted her head at him and moved over to his knees, which he parted to allow her to stand close.

"Can you believe," she said, looping her arms around his neck, "You have your one year evaluation in a few weeks? One whole year as Nick the Cop."

Nick snorted just a bit, dropping his head against her shoulder. "Yeah, some evaluation that will be. I can see it now – Nicholas Wilde: Congratulations on one whole year of being a _professional_ smartass and a screw-up."

"Hey," Judy lifted his head so he met her gaze. She opened her mouth to say something, and Nick was sure a thousand reassurances came to her mind, all battling for an opportunity to spring forth, earnest and sincere in the way only Judy Hopps could be. But instead, she closed her mouth without saying anything, and her expression fell thoughtful before shifting into a full, brilliant smile.

Nick blinked. "What on earth could you possibly be smiling about, you crazy bunny?"

Judy's fingers curled at his head, brushing gently through his fur. Her smile remained, not dampened even the least bit. "Nick," she said softly. "I'm looking at my partner, my best friend, my family… and my love." Nick's eyes widened as she shrugged her shoulders, rosy color rising beneath the fur of her cheeks.

"How can I look at you and _not_ smile?" she asked, as if she really wanted to know.

Nick stared at her, something other than exhaustion and frustration stirring in his chest for the first time in weeks. He stood away from the bed, bringing up both hands to clasp Judy's. He lowered them from his neck and curled them between their torsos, too in awe of her to speak.

Judy brought up their hands and kissed the top of his knuckles. "I know it's crazy out there right now," she said, large eyes looking up at his expression. "I know there are voices out there telling us we're weird and unnatural and wrong. And I know that sometimes, those voices are so loud, it's hard to hear all the others. The ones that tell us that we're okay… that there's _nothing_ wrong with us. But they're out there, Nick. I promise."

The fox looked over her face in a way that could be described as reverent. "You sure about that?" he asked weakly.

Judy's smile faded into a gentler expression and she stepped close, standing on her tiptoes to nuzzle his head with hers. "I'm a bunny, remember? I have _great_ hearing." The pair stood close together and laughed softly, and Judy's eyes closed as she murmured, "There are mammals out there who want to keep us apart…"

Nick brought a hand to her cheek and Judy's words faded away.

Opening his eyes, he pressed a hand at the back of her head. "Let them try," he said simply, tilting his head to catch her lips in a kiss.

The kiss was brief, but when they parted, the two remained close together, so near one another that when Judy tilted her head up to look at him, their lips brushed again and their gazes met instantly. The one look was all they needed, and suddenly they were back together again, this time pulled close in a feverish, passionate embrace that had Judy reaching for Nick's tie, pulling it loose and tossing it aside.

Rain continued to fall outside, no less hellish than it had been that night Judy had first stayed in the apartment, but it meant nothing to the pair inside. Nick's hands jumped up to frame Judy's face, lips covering hers as the two stepped away from the center of the room and brushed against the bed.

As soon as Judy's fingers pulled away the buttons of his shirt, he shrugged it off without breaking their passionate kiss, turning her swiftly to the bed and moving his hands to her own top, which she helped him pull off and toss away.

Her back met the bed, and Nick covered her body with his, a shock moving through him when he felt her hand curl at the top of his pants, dipping inside the seam to urge him closer. The motion drove him to curl an arm around her torso, bare fur against his a fantastic new sensation he more than welcomed.

Pulling away from her lips, Nick slowed himself as he brought his mouth to her neck as he had done before. His teeth, sharper than hers, brushed against the thin fur at her neck and lower. Now, nothing but a small undershirt was there to stop him, and before he could say anything, Judy moved down her arms and pulled it off. Her cheeks flamed, but it was more than embarrassment that claimed responsibility for the heat there.

Moving over her again, this time slow and deliberate, Nick reached up a hand and traced it down her neck and collarbone, over her chest and down the center of her stomach. Her reaction was a slow, shaky inhale, one that curled her toes until they cracked. At her exhale, Nick moved his hand over her rib cage, sweeping his thumb over her fur only to let his mouth take its place.

The slow, questioning touches from before disappeared and Judy curled her legs over Nick until the pressure was too much for either of them. Her body rocked forward in an instinctive bid to relieve it, and a gasp turned into an open-mouthed kiss as Judy let herself fall to her back again. Nick moved over her and pulled away the last of their clothes, all of which fell haphazardly to the floor.

"We can still stop," he told her in a whisper, even as his body screamed at him to shut up.

Judy shook her head, pulling her arms around his neck until their bodies were flush against each other. "Maybe _you_ can…" she teased breathlessly, before they were together again, every inch of their bodies touching as Nick curled his larger hand at her hip and gripped there, his mind and body overcome with desire.

It took all of his willpower – and most of Judy's – to slow them down until he was sure he wouldn't hurt her, but when the moment came and he pressed into her, the intense longing gave way to overwhelming pleasure, and the only thing in the world that mattered in that moment was the movement of their bodies as they rocked together.

"Nick…" gasped Judy.

The pair pressed together in a heated kiss, limbs tangled in each other and the sheets, laundry forgotten.

Outside the apartment, the world moved on as it had before, and somewhere in the city, others gossiped and guessed and judged.

But for a little while, it didn't matter. At least, not to Nick and Judy, who fell asleep in the sheets to the sound of rain outside and stayed in bed much, much later than usual the next day.

Though _sleeping in_ might not have been the most accurate phrase for it.


	12. Chapter 12

Author's Note: So this is a pretty quick update, but I know how the last few chapters will play out, so I'm eager to write them! Also, listening to creepy music as I wrote this was simultaneously brilliant and awful.

Warnings: Graphic content ahead, also more adult language than usual.

* * *

Green eyes watched as he moved his fingers over Judy's ears, which lay against her head, limp with sleep.

Nick smiled into his pillow.

If he could wake up every morning just like this – warm, content and with Judy to greet him – well, he might just turn into the whistling optimist he'd always rolled his eyes at. Shifting in his spot, Nick reached over and tugged the blankets just a little higher, up to Judy's bare shoulder and close to her chin. Her nose twitched in her sleep, and Nick barely stifled a chuckle.

What a sweet little bun.

Or at least, she was a sweet little bun until something startled her in her sleep, and suddenly a kick under the covers sent Nick flying off the bed in a tangle of blankets and curses.

Shriek. Thud. Groan.

"… Ow," he moaned from the floor.

And the sweet little bun slept on.

* * *

"Off the bed, huh?" asked Judy, sipping from her drink and doing a pretty poor job of hiding her grin.

"To the _floor_ ," Nick pointed down emphatically as he walked. "I saw my life flash before my eyes, Carrots."

"Why didn't you wake me up?"

Nick swallowed a gulp of coffee. "Honestly, you're so violent when you're asleep, I'm not sure I could've handled you while you were awake."

Judy laughed, linking arms with him as they crossed the street in the direction of the police station. "I'll make it up to you," she promised, finding his free hand and squeezing it.

Nick opened his mouth to reply, but his words came to a stop with his feet when a crowd loomed into view, gathered on the lawn of the nearby City Hall. The artfully designed red-brick building sat just across the street from the police station. The boisterous crowd grew as they watched, and despite the early hour, it already threatened to spill over into the streets. It was also drawing attention from others, and drivers continually slowed to peer curiously at the group.

"What's going on?" asked Judy softly, a frown creasing her features. "That looks just like…"

"The anti-predator protests?" finished Nick grimly. "Yeah. I'm sure it's equally stupid."

The two edged around the crowd, careful to avoid being spotted, but as they to the police station's backdoor, Judy lingered and looked back, reading the hand-written words on one of the signs held by the protesters.

 _STOP KILLING PREY_

 _SAVE THE PREY – STOP THE ABUSE_

"Abuse?" Judy murmured, her brows furrowed in confusion as she and Nick entered the station. The door closed quietly behind them, and Nick hurried forward, leaving Judy with little choice but to hurry along behind him.

Nick opted not to say anything about the crowd. He and Judy had to work to do, and –

"There you are!" called out a voice, and Nick and Judy looked up. But for once, the voice wasn't directed at them. It was Tsume, the rookie wolf cop, and he was looking at a very irritated looking Michael Jumps.

"You were supposed to be here forty-five minutes ago," said the wolf to the rabbit. "We're supposed to be all the way across town right now!"

"I know, I know," said Michael gruffly, and Nick moved forward silently, watching him with sharp interest. "I was runnin' late already," explained Micheal with an angry grimace, "and then traffic got backed up because of that damn mob across the street. Took me forever just to find a place to park!"

At that moment, Michael looked up and spotted Nick. If possible, his sour expression grew even worse, transitioning from deep irritation to outright resentment in a flash.

"And guess what they were all riled up about?" questioned Michael as he looked to Nick, making it quite clear he already knew the answer. "That's right. _You_ , Wilde. As usual. Always in the headlines for all the wrong reasons and makin' the rest of us look bad."

The pleasant warmth Nick had experienced that morning vanished, instantly replaced by a scathing animosity that surprised even him.

"I'm just surprised you aren't out there cheering them on," quipped Nick icily.

Michael scowled, eyes narrowed on Nick. Everything about his body language radiated hostility in a way it rarely had in the past. He advanced on Nick a few steps. "You know, maybe I should be," said the rabbit lowly. "You want to throw your weird and sick relationship in everyone's faces? Well, I should be able to say my piece too, huh?"

Some part of Nick's mind registered that the rest of the station had gone quiet, but he didn't care.

"Look," said the fox, eyes cast down on Michael. "I realize that the textbooks you used in school were probably nothing more than stones tablets filled with ancient runes, but let me bring you up to date. Interspecies relationships and – oh, yes, even marriage – are _not_ illegal. You are wasting your time being a bigot, because it's not even an issue."

Michael shrugged, the casual motion betrayed by his deep glare. "Maybe it ain't technically illegal, but a judge can still deny a marriage license if he wants, and there ain't been a single one granted to a prey and predator in the history of Zootopia. Look it up."

Nick blinked, only just barely keeping himself in control at this new bit of information. After a moment, he relaxed his expression into a carefully crafted smirk.

"You're right, Jumps. You're free to feel how you want to feel however you want, and even open your trap to talk about it. So, by all means, think all the ignorant crap you want," Nick waved an arm. "And whenever your cave-animal brain figures out how to make fire, you are more than welcome to go out there and burn a straw fox to show everyone how much you hate me. But right now, you're at _work_."

Nick's smirk fell away and he leaned close. "So unless you want Bogo to put you in that clown car working parking duty for the rest of your law enforcement career, I suggest you shut up and do your job."

The two animals glared at one another with undisguised, unfiltered loathing before someone nearby cleared their throat pointedly. Bogo entered from the other side of the station and the other officers immediately resumed their activities, leaving Michael and Nick to stare one another down until Nick stepped back with a scowl.

He stomped away without another word, and Michael turned away to do the same, only to come face to face with Judy.

"Wow," she said softly, her hands on her hips.

Her stare – not hostile, but certainly not friendly – seemed to make Michael deeply uncomfortable. Perhaps it was the disappointment so evident in her features. "Good morning to you, too," she added, eyebrows raised.

The male rabbit shifted on his feet. When he looked back up at Judy, his features shifted wildly through a wide array of expressions – anger, shame, embarrassment, indignation, anger again. He struggled for words for several moments, but Judy simply stood in her spot and waited for him to speak, unwilling to give him a pass.

Instead, she let him flounder in front of her until at last he burst out, "I said that stuff for your benefit!"

Judy blinked, looking rather less impressed than he might've hoped for.

Tucking his head again, Michael cleared his throat. It was obvious he wanted to sound firm, but he couldn't bring himself to meet Judy's gaze, and his efforts fell flat.

"Mammals are always gonna think you and Wilde bein' together is weird. And – and unhealthy, s'not good for you. S'not an equal relationship. Can't be. Better in the long run if you heard it now."

Judy folded her arms slowly, head tilting to the side. "How thoughtful of you," she murmured, and the low tone of her voice made Michael cringe. Perhaps it was how calm and still she was, or how antithetical she seemed to Nick in that moment.

When he fell quiet again, Judy sighed softly, closing her eyes for a moment. "You know, it's okay for you to disagree with interspecies relationships," she said at last, opening her eyes to look at Michael with a sad smile. "It really is. But you can disagree with someone and still show some respect for them."

Michael scowled. "I can't have respect for Wilde – "

"I'm not talking about Nick," cut in Judy sharply. "I'm talking about me. And if you can't separate me from my relationship, then your issue goes further than you realize." She paused, and her voice softened.

"I mean," she swallowed past a small lump in her throat. "Everyone who's talking about us and saying these mean things, they're not just angry about me and Nick. They're angry because someone, somewhere is taking part in something they don't like. Like those shrinks the Mayor sent to us? They're all assigning some kind of crazy ulterior motive to what we're doing and – " she paused, her voice cracking a little.

"I guess I just hoped that anyone who knew us wouldn't need an explanation," she said, stepping up to Michael and forcing him to meet her gaze. "I guess I hoped… they would know that we don't mean anyone any harm."

Michael shifted once more, doing his best to look away from her as he shrugged his shoulders. Again, he tried to speak, but he couldn't find the words.

At last, Judy stepped away with a quick, heavy sigh, giving Michael one last searching look before she passed him by and moved on.

* * *

"What do you think of this?"

Nick glanced up from his magazine and eyed his mother's painting. "Belongs in a museum," he said instantly, a smirk on his lips. "Right next to Furry Night."

Ella chuckled, turning back to her painting. "How are things going at work?"

"Fine," answered Nick, turning a page in his magazine. Ella cast him a glance over her shoulder as she dipped her paintbrush in some green, which she touched along the corner of the canvas.

"It'll calm down soon," she told him gently, looking back to her painting.

Nick kept his annoyed look on his magazine. "I told you," he said rather snippily, "Nothing's going on. Everything is fine."

This time, Ella shifted in her seat to face him fully, and when Nick met her gaze, it took only the tilt of Ella's eyebrow to make him close his magazine and mutter an apology. He tossed the magazine aside.

"Really, though," he said, "It's okay. I mean, as okay as it's going to be until we solve this case."

Ella set aside her paintbrush. "Did you thank you co-workers for me as I asked? Did they all get my thank-you cards for the gifts?"

Nick relaxed a little, smiling as he scooted forward. "Yes, Judy made sure they all knew how grateful you were. She's better at keeping track of that kind of thing than I am." He paused, eyes dropping as he fell thoughtful. "Honestly, I couldn't remember most of my coworker's names before all of this. Now, I kind of feel like … I should."

The elderly vixen patted him on the head. "That's probably a good idea, son. You can never have too many friends on your side."

"That's true," conceded Nick, realizing at the same time how he'd never considered such a thing before. Hell, the only other mammal he'd ever really had with him was Finnick. He'd never thought of anyone else as worth his time.

Leaning back in his chair, he looked out of the window of his mother's apartment, to where the land spread out into the grassy lawn and, further than that, the garden his mother had mentioned when she'd arrived home a week ago.

"You don't happen to watch the news a lot, do you?" asked Nick, still looking out of the window.

His mother washed her brushes, humming at his question before she put her painting tools away. "From time to time, when I want to hear about everything wrong with the world," she told him in the perfect imitation of Nick's wry tone. Turning to face him again, Ella watched her son for a long moment before she reached out and touched his hand, drawing his attention away from the window.

"I know there's a lot of talk about you two right now," said Ella as she squeezed his hand. "And there's even more chatter about interspecies this and murderer that and social agenda this. Everyone's got their two cents, and it still doesn't add up to a dollar, if you know what I mean."

Nick smirked a bit as his mother continued.

"But I can assure you, son," she said with a tender smile. "This crazy world is built on change, and change isn't always easy, pretty or even safe." She sighed, squeezing his hand. "But is it _necessary_? Yes, yes it is."

The words comforted Nick for only half a second before his confrontation with Michael earlier that day burst to the forefront of his mind. Standing away from his mother, Nick shoved his hands in the pockets of his work pants.

"Yeah, well, tell that to that idiot Michael Jumps."

His mother frowned. "Jumps? Is that the young rabbit you had the fight with at the bar? Oh, Nick. You need to let that go."

"Why should I?" exclaimed Nick, rounding to face her. "He just makes it worse, every single time I see his face. He's – Mom, he is literally every single thing I detest in this world, all wrapped up in one ignorant, long-earred package."

Ella folded her hands in her lap, watching Nick with undisguised concern as he rambled on.

"Like I don't have enough to deal with without some stupid hick waiting around to say his piece, as he put it. I don't need his piece. I need him and every other likewise individual to promptly _leave_ Zootopia, hopefully straight into a black hole."

"Is he really that bad?" asked Ella calmly.

"Of course he - "

"Or," she interrupted, raising her voice just enough to overwhelm his, "Are you pinning _all_ of your anger and frustration on him because he happens to rub you the wrong way?"

Nick scowled. "He _is_ the source of my anger and frustration, Mom."

He began to pace, ire he hadn't felt in years threatening to spill over as his words tumbled out. His altercation with Michael hadn't left him since that morning, and it had burned in his mind all day. "Plus, I'm willing to bet he's damn criminal," Nick growled as he marched, "And I shouldn't be telling you that, but I am, because that son of a bitch is _dangerous_."

Nick began to mutter to himself, mulling over every possible detail of the case in nearly unintelligible tones. He knew he looked crazy, he knew it sounded awful, he knew he was breaking his own rule – _don't let them see they get to you._

But it didn't matter. Nothing felt like it mattered at that moment except the white-hot fury burning in his chest.

"He's hateful and close-minded and every single thing that is wrong with this city! And you know what else?" he all but shouted, turning swiftly to face his mother again, his voice cracking just a bit as he exclaimed loudly, "I bet he would have joined in with those god damn kids at the Ranger Scouts _who put a muzzle on me_!"

Silence.

Ella Wilde stared, a rare look of shock on her features.

"Someone… put a muzzle on you?" she asked, and Nick took a step back, clenching his eyes for a long moment as he looked away, curling up his shoulders in unease, knowing he was an idiot for a lot of reasons, but at that moment, mostly for never telling Ella what had happened that night.

And now in a fit of anger, he had hurt her _again_ , over something that had happened twenty-five years ago.

As soon as he looked to his mother's crumbling expression, he realized he couldn't stand it a moment longer. For the first time since he'd come to her that day at the hospital several years ago, sorry and despairing as he was, he left without kissing her good-bye.

Instead, he grabbed his phone and wallet and stormed out without another word.

* * *

He tried to go home, but the energy, awful as it felt, coursed through his body and warded away any hope of peace. So instead he took the public bus to the police station, ready to throw himself into some paperwork he'd been avoiding.

But then he saw Michael Jumps leave the station, small against the fading afternoon light.

The rabbit seemed antsy, and he'd already changed out of his police uniform into a t-shirt and running shorts. He crossed the street and disappeared around the corner.

Teeth gritted, Nick watched him vanish. Then he turned away from the police station and followed.

* * *

He kept his distance, but once Nick spotted Michael again, he didn't let him out of his sight.

Following behind, the fox tailed the rabbit across several city blocks, eventually reaching the edge of Savannah Central where the outlying businesses tarried between the districts. Once on the outer fringes of the populated area, Jumps turned and jogged his way down the street to a more desolate area.

Nick came to a corner and stopped, peering around to see Michael slow and bend over to catch his breath, hands on his knees. After several seconds, the rabbit straightened and swallowed thickly, shifting from one foot to the other as he curled his legs in an obvious effort to release some strain.

Eyes narrowed, Nick moved around to the opposite corner, where he watched as Michael moved slowly down an unoccupied alley. The rabbit came to a stop near a side-door attached to a grey brick building, a single bulb sitting above it to offer a circle of light in the dimming afternoon sun.

Unaware of his spectator, Jumps leaned against the wall next to the door and pulled out a large knife.

Nick's jaw tightened. It was the same knife he'd seen Michael drop at the bar, then frantically grab up. From his spot around the corner, he watched as Michael pulled the knife from its sheath and toyed with the blade, obviously lost in thought.

 _That's right, you murderous hick. Show me what I need to bring you down,_ thought Nick.

He crouched low, allowing the growing shadows to cover him as the sun finally set beyond the horizon, giving away the sky to the night. Nick blinked a few times, letting his vision shift and pull on the strength it needed for the darkness.

At that moment, his phone buzzed at his hip, and Nick glanced down at it. It was Judy, wondering where he was. He chose to ignore it for the moment, and he turned back to the alley just in time to see the door next to Jumps open suddenly.

A male cougar appeared, wearing a pair of gym shorts and wiping his face and arms with a towel.

"Hey, you made it! I was starting to get worried about you," he said to Michael, who straightened away from the wall with a small smile. He shook the cougar's hand.

"Yeah, I'm sorry, man. Took me a little longer than usual," drawled Michael, eyes looking to his feet for a moment. "Had kind of a rough day."

The cougar's expression crinkled with sympathy, and he shut the door behind him, pulling up an old crate next to the door to sit on. "Everything alright?"

The rabbit took a seat on the low step in front of the door, twirling the large knife between his hands as he mused silently for a few moments. Finally, he tapped his own hand hard with the tip and scowled. "I'm just – I don't know, I – I don't know if I can do this," he managed thickly.

Nick squinted from his spot. Know if he can do what? Was this cougar in on the murders? Was Michael being put up to something?

The cougar immediately turned to face Jumps and put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, you're doing great. Come on, you just stick to the plan and you'll be fine – "

Increasingly suspicious of the cougar, Nick moved to edge closer, but his phone buzzed again and Michael perked up from his spot. "You hear that?" he asked the cougar, but the feline shook his head, prodding Michael again for information and telling him that he was just paranoid.

Scowling softly, Nick picked up the phone and pulled back just far enough to answer and still hear the conversation.

"Wilde here."

"Finally!" It was Judy. "I went to your apartment and you weren't there. We were supposed to cook together tonight, remember?"

"Ah, yeah," Nick edged a bit closer to the talking pair in the alley. "Sorry."

"Where are you?" she asked curiously.

Nick watched the cougar and the rabbit. "Would you believe me if I said I was reading to underprivileged children at the library?"

"Ah, no. I would not."

"Well, I guess I'll just save that excuse for another time," he said mildly. "Actually, I'm uh, " he glanced at a street sign, "on the corner of 5th and Peachtree, spying on Jumps."

Judy groaned. "You have got to be kidding me – "

Nick shifted his attention away from the phone, only vaguely registering that Judy was still talking on the other end of the line as he strained to listen to Michael, who was doubled over in his spot, pulling on his ears in frustration.

"It's just, I'm screwin' this all up, Hank. I really am!" said Michael desperately.

"What're you talking about?" asked the cougar, Hank. "You've been doing great, aside from that little hiccup at the bar."

"That wasn't just a hiccup, man," said Michael, expression sliding into one of shame. "Do you know what would happen if Mary found out I was drinkin' again? She'd _leave_ me, this time for sure. And I wouldn't blame her."

He buried his face in his hands.

"Stop it," said the cougar, pulling Michael's hands away. "Look, we made a plan, and we're going to stick to it. Any time you feel like drinking, you come here, we'll beat up the bags, do some cardio, whatever it takes to get your mind off of it. Remember?"

A soft sound like a sniffle was Michael's response.

"She's not going to leave you," said Hank more softly. "You are going to prove to her that you can do this. All she said was six months without a drink and she'd join you in the city, right?"

When Michael lifted his head, it was obvious he'd been crying.

Nick slowly lifted the phone to his ear again, not at all surprised to learn that Judy was still talking. "One second," he murmured, listening again to the odd pair in the alley.

"It can't just be six months," choked out Michael. "I gotta do this for the rest of my life if I want to make her happy, and I do. I want to make her happy here in Zootopia. And I want to do my job and not," he sucked in a shuddering breath, "not get into fights like a drunken idiot, the same as I was before."

The rabbit reached up and curled his fingers at his ears, sinking his head miserably low once more.

"But things are so different here, and I get so frustrated, and then I want to drink - " he stopped again, pulling up his head to stare blankly at the wall so near where Nick was hiding. "Things look different here. And it's not just the tall buildin's and stuff. I feel like – "

Nick straightened slowly in the shadows, Judy's voice calling his name from the phone and filtering through his subconscious.

"I feel like I'm freakin' out, 'cause bein' sober is a lot harder than bein' drunk," Michael managed at last.

"Nick?" Judy said again, and when Nick lifted the phone to his ear, he heard her soft sigh. "Nick, please give it up. Just leave Jumps alone and come home."

Nick and Judy didn't live together, but he knew, as he was sure Judy knew, that "home" meant wherever she was.

The cougar Hank stood up and brought Michael to his feet. "You can do this," he told his friend firmly. "I mean it. You come into the gym, we go 12 rounds in the ring if that's what you need. But you're going to pull through. And in just a few more months, Mary is going to be here with you, okay?"

Michael nodded slowly, and his friend patted his shoulder one more time before turning to head inside.

"And tape up your hands this time," said the cougar with a teasing smile, nudging Michael's busted knuckles. "You're getting bunny blood on my punching bag." After pulling up some earbuds with pulsing music, the cougar slipped through the door and left Michael alone outside.

Exhaling slowly, Nick pulled away from the corner just enough to turn his head and speak into the phone.

"Yeah," he murmured, the earlier adrenaline fading from his body as he watched Michael pocket the knife and turn to head inside. "I'll be right – "

The lightbulb above the door suddenly shattered and the alley plunged into darkness.

In the instant it took Nick's vision to adjust, a shadow dropped down from above and eclipsed Michael Jumps like a hellish swarm, effectively covering all but his loud screams and squeals, the sounds of which startled Nick into dropping his phone and cutting around the corner to hide, back pressed against the wall, heart pounding.

" _Shit!_ " Nick ducked down against the sounds of a brief but violent struggle. Judy's distant voice called his name from the phone, but the petrified noises from the alley suddenly stopped, and a low, heavy scraping sound reached Nick's ears. It was then that a flip switched in his brain.

 _You're a cop! Get the hell up!_

Grabbing the taser gun at his hip, Nick bolted around the corner of the alleyway with his weapon raised.

"ZPD! Who's there?" he called out, but as he scanned the new inky darkness of the alley, he realized with growing dread that Michael was nowhere to be seen.

The step he had occupied only moments ago was empty.

Green eyes reflected what little light was available as Nick stepped forward, his shoulders tight, posture stiff. "This is the Zootopia Police Department!" he said again, louder this time, lips parted as he fought to push air into his lungs. "Come out now, with your hands up!"

No noise greeted him, and nothing in the shadowed lane seemed to move except a few pieces of trash caught in the wind, rustling at his feet and blowing by his ankles. Nick advanced forward cautiously, eyes flickering to the austere buildings framing him on both sides. With every step he took, the buildings felt closer than before, creating a narrow tunnel of mixed blacks and grays.

Night had fallen in earnest, Nick realized belatedly. The street behind him was empty and quiet, with any signs of civilization sounding too far away for Nick's comfort. A shiver raced across Nick's skin, and the sensation somehow seemed to reach his heart, twisting it painfully as he edged forward. Only the very distant sounds of traffic kept him grounded.

"Officer Jumps?" he called out, weapon tight in his grip. He came to a stop at the end of the alley, which opened into an unused loading area behind a store. Wind pulled at the edges of Nick's uniform, creating a soft whispy noise in his ears.

"Jumps? Michael?" he tried desperately.

The name had barely escaped his lips when a shuffle sounded behind him. The short skittering noise was quickly followed be a sickening _crunch,_ a nauseatingly wet sound that would never truly fade from his memory.

Nick turned in a quick circle, weapon raised again, only to see a pile of something, something he couldn't identify from a distance, something that hadn't been there before.

Steeling his nerve, he stepped forward, one foot in front of the other, his heart in his throat.

As he advanced closer, fingers trembling around his weapon, the unidentifiable lump began to take shape and form, and denial fell away despite his every effort to keep it close.

"Michael?" he said again, but this time his voice was barely more than a whisper.

The lump of meat and bones that had once been Michael Jumps was painfully unresponsive. Nick thought he saw the body move for a moment, but he realized it was simply the pull of gravity tugging at tender muscle too exposed and unsupported.

Blood poured onto the cement and pushed at Nick in a stream that split over the uneven gravel, creating tributaries which pooled around his feet.

Unable to look away, Nick grappled blindly for his radio.

"Officer Wilde reporting in," he ground out to the speaker. "We've got a – a 10-00," his voice cracked, "Officer Jumps is down, 5th and Peachtree – "

A noise above him made Nick look up sharply, and although the voice on the other end of the radio responded with a question, Nick pushed it away and turned his attention to the roof.

Sharp teeth grinding hard against one another, Nick placed his taser gun in its holster before moving to a fire escape ladder, which he gripped and pulled himself up on. Wind pulled at his fur and his tail, rattling the various metal pieces on his uniform, but when he topped the ladder and came to stand on the edge of the roof, all the noises faded away.

It was standing on the opposite end of the roof, looking at Nick.

As Nick watched, it tilted its head at him, the motion almost comically exaggerated. An overly large coat disguised its figure and form, and a hood sat long over its face, obscuring any features into indistinguishable shadows. Only the occasional flash of eyes beneath the hood was visible from where Nick stood, waiting.

Nick straightened slowly, his features set in hard lines. He took a step off the edge of the roof, and blood pressed against the pads of his feet. Eyes flickering down, he grimly observed the bloody design, evidence of a struggle.

Michael had put up one hell of a fight. Nick lifted his eyes to the figure once more, and discovered it had not moved.

However, once it noticed Nick's attention, the figure raised its arms and held up the white-furred skin of Michael Jumps.

The edges of the white skin were shredded, and it was obvious the job had been rushed, but the outline of the rabbit's form was still too intact, too vivid, and Nick's body trembled with rage. He tried to breathe in, but his fury manipulated it into a growl deep in his chest. The figure glanced down at the skin in its hands before looking to Nick again.

Then it moved the skin side to side, as if it were dancing.

Something inside of Nick snapped.

"STOP RIGHT THERE!" he shouted, pulling out his taser gun and firing at the figure, only for it to dart around the shot and race across the roof on all fours, still holding Michael's skin.

Nick fired again before taking off after him, but the figure reached the end of the roof before he did and leaped onto a slim banister that bridged the two roofs together. As soon as it was on the other side, the figure kicked the beam away, just before Nick could race across.

The fox slid to a stop, barely staving off a deadly fall of his own as he watched the hooded figure dash off. Panting, he moved to reach for his radio again, but red and blue lights flashed nearby, and his head jerked in that direction.

"Nick?" called a voice from below, and he knew it was Judy.

Her voice felt dim and faraway, drowned under the weight of the sirens' wails.

Nick lowered his taser gun, and it fell limply from his hand, clattering to the rooftop below.

* * *

" _Developing story out of Savannah Central – Officer Michael Jumps, only the second rabbit ever to join the Zootopia Police Department under the Mammal Inclusion Act, has been killed in what looks like a continuation of the brutal prey-targeted killings plaguing Zootopia as of late."_

" _Sources indicate that only one other officer was on the scene with Jumps during the murder, rookie fox officer Nicholas Wilde."_

" _You may remember Officer Wilde as one of the law enforcement officials who helped put two previous Zootopia mayors behind bars for the Nighthowler Epidemic almost a year ago."_

" _Wilde has also been the subject of speculation as of late for his recent involvement in pro-interspecies movements across the city, along with his partner, Officer Judy Hopps."_

" _We now have unconfirmed reports that Officer Wilde and the latest rabbit victim were seen fighting in a local bar just a few weeks ago."_

" _Neither Officer Wilde, nor his commanding officer, Chief Bogo, could be reached for comments. More information to come as it develops. This is your network for news – ZNN."_

* * *

It was late. So late, it was nearly early.

Outside, the sun struggled to rise, the darkness of the night more demanding than usual. Eventually, it began to give in to the pinks and oranges, but it felt slow. Tired. Reluctant.

Judy entered the bedroom, a cup of tea in her small hands. She shuffled across the carpet quietly and set it on the bedside table next to where Nick sat.

"I made you some tea," she said when he didn't acknowledge her. "I know you'd probably prefer coffee, but I think this is supposed to be soothing, so…"

Lavender eyes lifted to Nick's face, which remained unresponsive for a little while. Then Nick straightened from where he sat on the edge of his bed. When he finally spoke, his tone was lighter than Judy had expected. Almost amused.

Nick said, "I have never hated myself as much as I do right now."

She could only watch as he chuckled, a noise which sputtered out and became a sob mixed with a grin.

"And that's saying something," he said, waving one finger, not looking at Judy, his shoulders pulling forward as his voice began to crack and tremble.

"Because I have hated myself a _lot."_

"Nick," she murmured, but as soon as she touched his shoulder, the sobs burst forth and Nick doubled over on his bed, body curling into a tight, aching ball. The bunny stood on her tiptoes to fully engulf him in her arms, but nothing could stifle the noises he made, the great, heaving sound of his weeping.

Her eyes filled with tears, tears that had threatened since she'd come to that alleyway several hours before.

"Please," she murmured tearfully, trying to make Nick look up, to force him to breathe, because he sounded as if his soul was caving into his chest. "Oh, Nick, it wasn't your fault! Please, please, look at me."

"Th – that thing," sobbed Nick, claws cutting at his fur as he curled them near his face. Then he reached out and grabbed Judy's arms suddenly, startling her. His wild expression crumbled into one of despair.

"It only attacked Jumps because it knew I was watching," he whispered.

Judy did her best to stave off a look of horror. "You can't know that, Nick!" she told him through her own tears. "Stop blaming yourself!"

"I do know it!" he exclaimed vehemently, loosening his grip on her, his head dropping. "I do! It killed Jumps – because – it knew I was – there," he sobbed, words falling away under the weight of his misery.

Nothing coherent came from him again, and finally Judy tipped his head up to look at her, strangled noises falling from them both.

"Do you want to burrow with me?" she whispered at last, her voice soft and small.

Nick nodded numbly, the fur of his cheeks soaked with tears.

Judy climbed over him onto the bed, pulling him up to a pillow before she reached down over his miserly form and tugged on the blankets, securing them just above both of their heads and effectively hiding them both away.


	13. Chapter 13

Author's Note: Thanks for hanging in with me, everyone. I know it's been a rough few chapters. Just one warning - some real creepiness towards the end of this chapter.

Also, the two songs mentioned in this first section are "Down to the River to Pray" and "I'll Fly Away," by Alison Krauss. And yes, I know the first one is very old and not written by Krauss. I'm referring to her version.

I highly suggest giving them a listen if you want the feel of this part of the story.

* * *

It was a long walk, but the drums kept them steady.

With each beat of the persistent rhythm came dust stirred by their shining black shoes on the dirt road, and with every new step, an open field loomed closer into view, unfairly beautiful and bright.

Traditionally, law enforcement funerals were marked by a procession through downtown Zootopia. Today, however, the entirety of the Zootopia Police Department marched in stiff lines down an unpaved path, each step parallel to rows upon rows of crops grown tall and healthy. The drums continued behind them, in sync with every footfall.

 _Tap. Tap. Tap._

Behind the procession, a sign cheerfully welcomed them to South Burrows.

At the head of the march, Chief Bogo led the uniformed officers into a clearing, just in view of a well-worn house covered in faded blue paint. A crowd waited in front of it, quiet despite its great number.

The group of officers split, and some of the larger mammals moved forward with a casket between them.

In solemn synchronicity, the six officers placed it beneath an awning of thin green cloth. The bright afternoon sun pushed on the awning insistently, and the effect was a grey-green shadow which loomed over the Zootopia flag where it lay on top of Michael's casket.

Nick found he could not look away from it.

A distant part of his mind registered the protocols. Chief Bogo, Delgato and Fangmeyer lifted the Zootopia flag from the top of the box, folding it carefully into a triangle. They took it in their hands and nodded to one another, before Chief Bogo turned and presented the flag to Tsume.

The large wolf took the folded flag in trembling hands. Then he turned away from the casket and to the row of seats directly across from it, where a line of rabbits sat. A single female occupied the center and did her best to sit up straight, so straight her back might break if she tried any harder.

Tsume presented the flag to her, and she took it.

For a long moment, the female rabbit did not react at all. However, when she moved to stand, her arms tugged the flag to her chest and her eyes fell on the casket for the first time since the officers had arrived.

Mary Jumps' grip on the flag became steel, fingers curled.

Tsume rejoined the line of officers standing rigidly nearby, and the sun chose that moment to reflect on their badges. The shining effect was muted by the piece of black tape across each one, directly in the center, small but essential.

Together, the line stood and waited for the call. When it came, loud and clear in the open field, their hands snapped up in unison to the brow of their hats, sharp and firm.

Chief Bogo, holding a photo of Michael on his graduation day, saluted with his free hand. In the background, the drums had fallen silent.

Mary Jumps, still clutching the flag, moved away from her seat and took a few uncertain steps towards the casket. After a moment, she looked back at her waiting family just long enough to swallow past a sob. Her attention turned forward once more, and without a single instrument to accompany her, she began to sing.

 _As I went down in the river to pray  
Studying about that good old way  
And who shall wear the starry crown  
Good Lord, show me the way._

She began to cry in earnest, and the song faded, but only for a moment. Behind her, other rabbits stepped forward and continued the song, taking Mary's hands in theirs and singing on.

 _O fathers, let's go down  
Let's go down, come on down  
O fathers, let's go down  
Down in the river to pray_

Nick squeezed his eyes shut.

 _As I went down in the river to pray  
Studying about that good old way  
And who shall wear the starry crown  
Good Lord, show me the way._

More voices joined the song, growing louder and more sorrowful with each verse. Nick clenched his eyes closed harder, but nothing could take him away from that moment. All he knew was that damned sun, too bright, and the sounds of singing all around him.

He looked to his side and realized Judy was singing along. With every word, her glassy eyes stared straight ahead at the casket, at Mary, at the family. Nick felt his features crumple, his body unable to stave it off any longer. Tears pushed hard and bitter, and he wasn't sure how long he could stay here, how long he could stand. He dropped his head to his chest, unable to look ahead anymore.

When he felt a hand move to his, Nick looked up to see Judy watching him, still singing.

He realized in that moment that he wanted to sing along, and he opened his mouth to do so, only to find that he did not know the words.

* * *

The sun refused to let up, and even as the afternoon light finally began to fade, it looked to Nick as though the earth was wrestling the great sphere from the sky.

The ceremony was over, but the grieving remained, and so, too, did the ZPD.

For a little while, at least, the uniformed officers changed the landscape of the usually quiet burrow, giving it a sharp clarity it normally lacked. No doubt, thought Nick, the community would be glad to have them gone. They were heralds of the worst kind, rarely going door to door with _good_ news to share.

"Officer Wilde?"

Nick turned away from the sunset to see Mary Jumps standing in front of him, the flag still firmly in her grip. For a moment, Nick could only stare, so the female rabbit extended her hand.

"M – My name is Mary Jumps," she managed after a moment, cheeks damp and eyes shining.

Nick forced himself out of his stupor and accepted her hand. "Yes, I'm sorry," his voice cracked. "I'm – Yes, I knew that." He cleared his throat. "It's… It's an honor to meet you."

Mary produced a small smile. "Thank you," she murmured sincerely. She faltered for a moment after that, her gaze dropping low, and Nick's heart with it. Neither of them seemed to know what to say, and so Mary looked up over at the burial site again, some distance away.

"I was supposed to move to Zootopia with him," she said softly, "You know, after he got everything… settled."

Nick followed her gaze. He wasn't sure where he found the words, but he did.

"He was trying really hard," he told her after a moment. Mary looked back at him, and he met her gaze. "To get everything settled," he finished meaningfully.

Mary's features shifted with understanding, and her eyes clouded with tears again. She reached out for Nick's hand and squeezed it. "Thank you," she said again, her words barely audible. "Thank you for telling me that."

Nick bit his lip, and the pain helped turn his attention away from the sensation that his chest was caving in.

"Do you, by chance," started Mary, pausing before going on as she squeezed his hand again, "Do you know what happened to Mike's knife?" Her features pinched with the effort not to cry again. "No one's seen it, and it – it belonged to his granddaddy, it was real important to him."

Nick watched her for a long moment before answering. "It's in evidence lock-up," he told her truthfully. Mary's face fell. "But," he continued earnestly, even as his tone became harder than he'd meant, rough because he hated the sound of his own crying, he hated it so much.

"As soon as it's clear to go," he told her, "I will personally bring it to you. I swear."

Mary nodded, a ghost of a smile on her features. Somewhere nearby, a few of the rabbits picked up some string instruments and began playing music. Mary looked in that direction, but she spoke still to Nick.

"I know you and M – Mike had some disagreements," she choked out, looking up over at him again. "He told me about it when he came home to visit once."

Nick looked over at her, unsure if he could produce a reasonable response now, or ever again.

"But Mike was good," she went on emphatically. "He was, and you are, too. Now that I've met you, I can see it."

Nick's jaw hurt. "I wouldn't be so sure about that."

"I would," said Mary.

Nearby, the music picked up, and Mary looked over to it before tugging on Nick's hand. He followed her reluctantly, his brows furrowed and his body trying to pull him away from the surprisingly upbeat tune. Others from the funeral procession gathered nearby, and a few feet away, Judy watched as Mary pulled Nick down to the group of musicians.

"I don't know this song," he told her as she began to sing, but she smiled a bit through her tears.

"It's not about the words," she told him.

Nick looked up at the other Jumps family members, all of whom still bore evidence of their misery. The plucking of the banjo and the tap of a small drum moved the rhythm along, and even though Nick could see the sadness from before, he saw something else as well.

At the last verse, Mary released his hand at last and curled both of her own near her face, eyes closed as she sang, growing louder with each verse until tears poured down her face again. Still, there was something about the tune that sounded more like a celebration.

Mary had said it wasn't about the words, but they stuck with him anyway.

 _I'll fly away, oh glory  
I'll fly away in the morning  
When I die, Hallelujah by and by  
I'll fly away_

* * *

Ella Wilde looked up from her book at the sound of a knock. Even the simple _tap-tap-tap_ was sounded shameful.

As she lowered her book to her lap, Ella's only son shuffled into the room, shut the door behind him and moved to her bed, where he sank down on his knees next to where the starchy sheets tucked into the mattress corners.

Before he could speak, Ella moved her legs over to the side of the bed and, ignoring his protests, gripped the sides of her bed and pushed herself up, trembling all the while, until at last, she stood on her own two feet.

"Now, you see, Nick," she said, looking down at him with a no-nonsense expression. "If I can stand, so can you."

He looked up at her and rose to his feet, so she smiled and let him hug her tightly, an apology which moved beyond words.

"I love you, Mom."

"I love you, too, my sweet little kit." After a moment, she pulled away and let him lower her to the bed again. "Are you alright?" she asked, her brows furrowed. "Please, let me help you if I can…"

"You help me," he replied quietly, leaning his head on her shoulder. "Every time I think about you. That's when I remember."

"Remember what?" asked Ella, reaching up a hand to stroke Nick's head.

His eyes flickered up to her face. "What I'm supposed to be like. What I could be. Who you raised me to be." Ella pressed her cheek against the top of her head as he continued. "And just like that," murmured Nick, "I'm better than I was before. Even if only a little."

* * *

"I'm just saying," a deer went on to the lamb, in full view of their enthralled studio audience. "This is the whole pred-attack thing all over again!"

The lamb nodded eagerly. "I know _I_ feel afraid, I mean. We've got a serial killer targeting prey, we've got animals being attacked in the streets, and we're supposed to look to the police to help us, and what – now prey officers aren't even safe?"

A murmur of agreement rippled through the televised crowd.

"And supposedly the fox officer that was there with him couldn't do anything? Ridiculous!" chimed in the large gazelle. "Right, I'm sure he had nothing to do with it. After eyewitnesses came forward and talked about how he attacked Michael Jumps in that bar? Give me a break!"

"What're they going to blame it on this time?" asked the lamb with a scoff. "More drugs?"

"Hey," one of the other commentators, a mole, leaned over. "Now, as far as the whole Night Howlers thing goes, predators were just as much victims as prey. They were the ones being poisoned."

The lamb folded her arms and spoke over the mole. "I don't know if I believe all that, I really don't. Berries can only make you do so much."

This brought on a heated argument between the various commentators, and the whole of the audio was just a bunch of overlapping, jumbled voices shouting to be heard, with audience members commenting to one another and adding to the din.

 _Click._

Judy lowered the television remote and turned to face Nick, who was sitting on the edge of his bed, still staring at the now blank screen.

"What's the matter?" asked Nick dryly, a sigh pervading his voice as he hunched over his knees, elbows doing a poor job of supporting him. "Don't like quality talk television?"

"Nick, that stuff is crap and you know it," said Judy, setting the remote aside and joining him on the bed. "It's a gossip show, it doesn't mean anything."

"Hmhp," Nick grunted, reaching up a hand and pushing it over his tired face. He hadn't slept in two days, and it read clearly on his features, lines deep even beneath his fur. His eyes dropped to his hands in his lap, the floor a vague blur behind them. "Gossip or not," he murmured after a long moment, "That's what the animals of Zootopia are seeing right now."

He stood away from Judy, even as she reached for him.

Pacing the dark bedroom, Nick put his hand on his hips and tilted his head back, hoping for some clarity from the slowly revolving ceiling fan. "This is what they're hearing," he said. "That I attacked Jumps… or just let him die."

Turning to face Judy again, he finally met her gaze. "And they're right," his voice cracked and splintered, becoming smaller with each word. "I was standing right there, and he still – "

"Nick," Judy jumped to her feet, fresh tears threatening. "What happened _wasn't_ your fault."

"It was!" he argued vehemently. "If I hadn't spent so much time going after Jumps, if I had actually done my _fucking_ job – "

Judy gripped his hands desperately. "You made a mistake – "

"No." Nick shook his head, eyes low before he slowly lifted them to hers. A shallow, bitter laugh escaped him, and he pulled away one hand to point at her. "No _, delivery boys_ make mistakes, Judy. I'm a police officer," he murmured, a hard edge growing on this tone.

"And I cost someone his _life_."

Judy watched him pull away from her to pace across the room, one hand dragging down his muzzle as he stopped at the window, which looked out into a typical Zootopia night.

The rabbit behind him remained silent for several moments before speaking again.

"I'm sorry, Nick," she said at last, her voice soft but even. "I _hate_ that you have to go through this pain, I do… and if I could take it away from you and bring it to me, I would."

 _I wouldn't let you,_ he thought.

The sound of Judy's steps moved behind him.

"But you have to listen to me," she continued, one hand reaching out and firmly grasping his arm to turn him around. He felt the pull of her gaze before he'd even faced her.

"Pain and regret – they're just like anything else we experience," she told him, looking up at his face. "They're tools. We take them, and we suffer, and we use them. And if we don't, then all of this – " she gestured between them, a simple motion to convey a complex web of emotions, " – all of this is for _nothing_. If we just stand by and let the misery keep us from moving forward, then we're only hurting ourselves more."

Nick closed his eyes. His first thought was to say that he didn't think he could hurt any more than he did in that moment, but as soon as he opened his eyes and looked at Judy, he knew that wasn't true.

"Beating yourself up isn't helping you," said Judy as she reached up a hand, pulling him forward until his forehead rested against hers. Her voice trembled, fresh tears on her cheeks. "We were both wrong. And now we need to fix it. Together."

It was a long while before Nick responded, but finally, he reached forward and pulled Judy to him, his cheek tucked against hers despite the differences in their heights.

"How does anyone deal with this?"

The question was quiet and low, an earnest inquiry from a rookie cop who wasn't sure what else to do or say.

Judy moved her head away to look up at him. "Like I said," she whispered, fingers curling in front of his shirt. "Together. And not just you and me. But everyone… everyone we love, everyone who loves us. And even those who don't know us or like us, even the ones saying that horrible stuff right now…" Judy bit her lip, the corner of her lips lifting in a sad smile. "We need each other. I know it sounds crazy, but we do."

The fox drew in a deep, weary breath, but his grip on Judy relaxed a bit, and he stroked her cheek. "I guess you'll just have to show me how that works," he told her, drawing a hand down her face. "I trust you."

"Good," she whispered in response, before standing on her tiptoes to press a gentle kiss to his lips. She pulled away only a little and met his gaze once more, and this time, the tenderness faded and was replaced by a determination that was distinctly Judy Hopps.

Then she leaned close and said, "Now let's find this murdering bastard."

* * *

"Well, you see," said Dr. Jagmire, as she leaned over towards the radio host, "I have personally interviewed the victims of interspecies relationships, and I concur with the vast amounts of research that shows these kinds of relationships contain many toxic, unhealthy characteristics."

"Such as?" inquired the radio host.

"Exactly what you might expect," said Jagmire animatedly. "Physical dominance, species confusion, societal displacement, cultural conflict, lack of communication. It's the worst possible environment for a relationship."

"And you don't believe," asked the host, "that adult mammals should be allowed to choose this type of relationship if they want? You don't think every relationship is different, and deserves its own time to cultivate in its own way?"

Jagmire paused on-air, her sneer invisible behind the audio equipment, unseen by listeners.

"I think to allow such a thing would breed a society of immorality the likes of which would destroy Zootopia."

* * *

 _MURDER OF ZOOTOPIA OFFICER MICHAEL JUMPS – PREY KILLINGS CONTINUE_

 _PUBLIC OUTRAGE: NO CHARGES AGAINST FOX OFFICER ON THE SCENE WITH MURDERED RABBIT_

 _BAR BRAWL – PREY/PREDATOR VIOLENCE CONTINUES_

 _PREDATORS RALLY FOR FOX OFFICER NICK WILDE_

 _A CITY DIVIDED – WHEN WILL THE CHAOS STOP?_

 _ZOOTOPIA SERIAL KILLER POSSIBLY MAKING A STATEMENT ABOUT INTERSPECIES RELATIONSHIPS_

* * *

Nick squinted at the latest tabloid headline before he tossed it aside.

"Anyone need some toilet paper?" he asked wryly.

Delgato snorted from his desk. "Give it to my kids, they can color on it," he said, sighing before he reclined next to the booth across from theirs.

Judy pushed the tabloid off the desk and into the garbage.

"There, fixed," she said cheerfully, before becoming serious again. "Okay, now, we've got all the information compiled here. We just have to – look through every single word and letter of it and try to figure out something. Something we haven't gotten yet."

Nick leaned forward on their shared desk and observed the pile of papers, each one containing every miniscule detail of the case. It looked like an overwhelming, jumbled mess. "Agh, we know all of this," he muttered, already feeling tired.

"There's got to be something," said Judy firmly, even as she eyed the stack with a grimace. While Nick half-heartedly flipped through the papers, Judy perched on the desk and fell thoughtful.

"You know, I just don't get it," she said after a moment. Nick looked up from the papers and waited for her to continue. "This guy," said Judy, looking over to Nick. "You said… You said he only attacked Jumps because you were watching, right?"

An uncomfortable frown, uneasy shrug. "Yeah, but," Nick heaved a sigh. "I think I was just kind of hysterical. I mean…"

Against his will, Nick's mind flashed back to that moment, to the instant something large and dark jumped down on Jumps, enveloping him like a deadly cloud. The sounds of claws scraping against the pavement. Snarls overlapping squeals, noises cut short in an instant. Now that he reviewed it in his mind, he remembered hearing the distinct _crack_ of bones.

He blinked out of the memory with a twist of his shoulders, eyes turning back to his papers. "I mean, it just – it felt that way, like… " he dropped his voice. "It felt like a show." Nick reached up, rubbing at the back of his neck. "I know, that sounds stupid."

But Judy shook her head fervently. "No, no, I think you may be right," he said. "I mean, he's shown up at other places we've been, right? He was in the waterways underneath the city, he was at Emerald Isles, and now he was in the same alley as you and Jumps." The rabbit shifted on the desk and gripped its edges, her eyes focused.

"Nick, I don't think that's a coincidence."

"So how could he know all of those things?" asked Nick, sitting up straighter. "How could he know where we were heading? I mean, it's not like I've seen a guy creeping around us 24 hours a day."

Suddenly, Judy's head lifted, her lavender eyes wide. "He wouldn't have to follow us," she said, sliding off the desk. Nick raised a brow at her.

"Not if he was listening," she finished.

* * *

First, they looked through Nick and Judy's desk at work, pulling out all the drawers and checking them on every side.

The search revealed nothing suspicious, so they returned to Nick's apartment. Together, they tore it apart, unscrewing every light, dismantling the smoke detector, checking the switches, pulling out the cabinets. Anything and everything that could possibly hide a wire.

But they found nothing.

Judy let out a short groan, foot thumping on the carpet. "I was so sure!" she exclaimed, folding her arms and casting a heated glare around the apartment. "I don't think there's anything in my place, it's too small. But we can still check."

Nick sighed, trying not to think about his trashed apartment. "Alright, well, let me call me call Bogo and give him a heads up," he said, pulling out his cell phone. Before he pulled it up to his ear, Judy stepped forward and grabbed it. "Whoa, hey – "

"Nick…" Her eyes shifted up to his, and the horrifying possibility floated between them. Without saying another word, Judy took Nick's phone and flipped it over, finding the small switch on the back and pulling off the battery cover.

Nick moved behind her, looking over her shoulder as the rabbit thumbed something small and square on the back of the device, right next to the battery. When her fingers brushed a small wire, she lifted it up and out of the phone with a small pop.

"You've got to be kidding me," said Nick, dread crawling its way into his heart.

"Ow!" A spark jumped up from the back of the phone, and Judy dropped it to the carpet, waving her hand and sucking on the burnt edge of her finger.

When she picked up the phone again, the screen was dark and unresponsive.

* * *

"Yep," said Snarlov back at the station, turning the small black square in his fingers. "You've definitely got yourself a bug here, and it's equipped with a wiretap. Basically, someone can listen in using an FM scanner, and anything you had in your phone – text messages, voice calls, e-mails, contact information, all of that was being sent over wirelessly, probably to an e-mail."

"Can you figure out the e-mail? Give us any information about where this stuff was being sent?" asked Judy, but Snarlov shook his head regretfully.

"This one looks like it was programmed to fry when it's forcibly removed. Sorry."

"Great," Nick leaned heavily against the desk. "No wonder this asshole has been on us the whole time."

Judy bit her lip before quickly pulling out her own phone, pulling off the back and checking it. "We already checked mine. Nothing. He only put it in Nick's."

"Yeah, well, that was obviously enough," Nick scowled, tossing his unusable phone onto their desk.

Judy's hand jumped out and gripped his arm. "Hey, now we've caught on to his game. He may know we took out the wire, but from now on, we've got him on the run," she told Nick. "We're getting close, Nick. He's not a step ahead anymore."

Their wolf co-worker nodded. "She's right, Wilde. This kind of technology, it's available to anyone with half a brain and internet connection. I don't think you're dealing with a tech-savvy criminal mastermind." He shrugged. "Now that he doesn't have this, you've probably got him running scared."

Nick and Judy exchanged glances. "Good," said Nick.

* * *

It was already late by the time Nick and Judy left the police station, and most of the stores were closed.

"We'll go somewhere to get you a new phone tomorrow," said Judy, drawing him into the apartment with a renewed sense of energy. Nick locked it behind them, something he hadn't done just a few months ago. "And then we take this whole bug thing to Bogo, see what he can do. We've got something to work with here. We'll find him."

"Your optimism never ceases to amaze me," said Nick wryly, his lips quirked just a bit.

Judy's response was a soft smile. "We've got this. Together."

"Together," he agreed.

A little while later, Judy took a quick shower and, after digging around in the fridge, grabbed a bottle of water, sipping at it before moving into Nick's bedroom.

"Ready for bed?" she asked, when Nick didn't react to her. He blinked and glanced back at her from where he stood near the bedroom window. The idea of rest seemed foreign, but when Judy set aside her bottled water and hopped up onto the bed to fall back against the pillows – each too large for her small grey head – the temptation was too much, even for his unease.

Nick moved to the bed and crawled over Judy, a small smile his response to her own. She reached up and pulled on his bare torso, and he sank down over her on the bed, enveloping her in his arms. God, how he adored her. It made his heart race, just to look down at her like this.

That sort of thing was hard to articulate, even for someone like Nick, who'd made his way in life by use of a silver tongue and strong wit. But when it came to Judy, no words were good enough. No clever simile would suffice. To tell her she was amazing, beautiful, brilliant – it was all true, certainly, but none of it did justice to Judy. Not one bit.

Nick reclined on his side against the bed, arms still wrapped around her, who looked up at him with a sense of understanding. She knew how he felt, even without him saying it aloud, but she still deserved to hear it.

"You are my family," he told her at last, tracing a curled finger along her cheek. "And you are my favorite part of living."

The bunny smiled, moving up over him and turning her head to kiss the inside of his hand, so close to her face.

"Just like you're mine," she replied in a whisper. "And don't worry… I _do_ know that."

* * *

The sky had only just begun to brighten with the hint of morning when Judy awoke.

Immediately, something felt off. Her body was sluggish, and her mind was a hazy fog. Blinking against the dim lighting of the bedroom, Judy groaned and looked over at Nick, who was fast asleep. A glance around the room revealed nothing odd - at least, not to her strangely addled mind.

Dragging herself out of bed with uncharacteristic slowness, Judy shuffled across the room. The alarm clock cast a warm red glow around the time, reinforcing the early, early morning. On the bedside table, Judy's half-finished water bottle sat, uncapped. Reaching the bathroom after what seemed like a mile, Judy reached up to her head with one hand and fumbled for the switch with the other.

The sudden light was jarring, and she blinked against it for a moment. When at last, her vision cleared, Judy looked up at the bathroom mirror.

Nick's name was the first thing she thought to scream.

* * *

The scream jarred him out of his sleep.

Blinking stupidly against the dimness of the room, the fox paused only for a moment to gather his senses before he leaped out of bed. "Judy!" he called out, practically crashing through the door to the bathroom, only to see the bunny standing in front of the sink, her hands in front of her and lips parted in terror.

"What is it?" he asked, because he couldn't see anything wrong. Not until she turned to face him.

From head to toe, methodical lines of black made their way down Judy's body, each perfect and identical in length. The lines went across her head and down her face, over her clothes and along the lengths of each of her limbs, highlighting tender areas of connection like the seams in a cloth doll.

It was the sort of thing used to map a body for surgery, to show the exact path of the cut, to ensure clean, effective separation of the skin.

"He was here," whimpered Judy, desperately trying to hold back a sob. " _He was here_."

* * *

It was Grizzoli and Andersen who answered the call.

"Signs of forced entry in your living room," Grizzoli told them gravely. "Quiet, though. No broken glass, just a jimmied lock." He paused, frowning before moving in front of Judy, who sat on the couch with a blanket draped over her shoulders. Nick sat at her side, green eyes narrowed deeply on something unseen, even as he held Judy's hand in his.

"We've got everyone out looking, I promise," Grizzoli told them both, fingers curled into fists. "We'll find him. He can't be far."

Nick glanced over at Judy, who straightened in her spot and took in a deep breath before giving Grizzoli a firm nod. "Thank you. We appreciate it," she said in a clear, firm voice. Grizzoli looked her over before giving an approving nod.

"You're a strong one, Hopps," he told her, before standing away from them. "Alright, we've got enough here. Me and Andersen are going to get out on the streets with the others. If you don't hear from us, we'll meet you at the station in the morning."

Nick and Judy both nodded, even standing to see them out before Nick closed the door behind the other officers. Even the sound of the deadbolt twisting in with a click made him feel angry. It seemed so useless, the damn door. For all the good it did.

But he had to be strong, like Judy. Breathing in slowly, Nick turned to face her.

"Come on, let's get you into the – "

Judy interrupted him with a loud sob.

As Nick watched, the sobs grew harder and louder, until he couldn't even convince her to take a shower to wash off the markings. Nick closed his eyes tightly and gathered her in his arms, finally picking her up and taking her away from the living room, because all she could do was cry.

* * *

Two hours later, after they'd gathered their things and been removed to protective custody, Judy managed to calm enough to shower and wash off the markings.

She fell asleep in his arms, but Nick stayed awake, hard gaze on the door and his claws extended.

* * *

Author's Note: One more chapter… Also, yes, that creepy phone listening device exists.


	14. Chapter 14

Author's Note: Enjoy the story…

* * *

They spent the night in a cramped room, separate from the other officers watching over them.

The illusion of safety provided by the paper-thin walls was almost more infuriating than simply waiting out in the open, begging him to come, to get this over with, already. Anything beat just sitting around, pondering on the worst case scenario.

Nick pulled his shirt over his shoulders, his motions slow and uncertain. Before buttoning it, he looked over to Judy, who stood at the wall and looked out as though there were a window, even though the room was completely closed off.

"It's okay if you want to stay here," he told her, knowing before she even looked in his direction that he was asking the impossible. His tone turned pleading. "You'll be safe with Anders and Grizzoli – "

"We are _both_ going to the station," she told him sharply, and he'd be damned if her expression didn't made him angry all over again. Not angry at Judy, but at all of _this_ , this horrible sequence of events that had pushed the bunny he loved to a place where she was both terrified and terrifying, fearful and malevolent, anxious and eager – all fused into the same twisted expression.

She'd barely slept, and Nick hadn't fared much better. It showed on both of their faces.

"We have work to do," she told him, adjusting the last bits of her uniform with a sudden deep breath. For a moment, her eyes flickered, and Nick felt a strange sense of relief at seeing a hint of her usual Judy-esque moxie. "And I'm not going to let that creep scare us into hiding."

Moving over to Nick, she pulled his shirt closed, her hands lingering at the buttons before she turned her face up to his and her features crumpled for a moment, as if she might cry again. Nick immediately tugged her close into a hug, pressing his cheek against the top of her head, where her ears lay flat.

She let him hold her for a moment, but then she pulled away, her features growing determined once more. "Nick, we have to get something – anything to go on." She paused, biting her lip. "We need to call in the Emerald Isle witnesses again."

Nick scowled, fighting against his growing frustration, his fear, all of the those nasty things that had piled on him more and more with every minute since last night. It all mixed unpleasantly with a lack of sleep to make him feel like he was toeing the edge of that rooftop again, staring out as the murderer dashed off with the skin of Michael Jumps.

Nick pushed the memory away, too late to stop Judy from moving. "They don't know anything – " he started, but didn't matter.

"There has to be something they noticed," Judy said, snatching up her radio and taser gun. "Anything that can help us. They're the only ones who've been close to a murder, Nick. They're our only shot."

With that, she swept past Nick and out of the creaky bedroom door.

* * *

Moving together in a tense mass, the group of officers made their way to the ZPD.

Nick and Judy called in the witnesses from Emerald Isle, even talking to employees who hadn't been there at the time of the murder.

Marla the pig dropped her face in her hands. "I don't _know,"_ she groaned. "I've already told you, I was away from the front desk, checking on patients in the East Buildings. I didn't see or hear anything suspicious."

Mister Wilkins, the twitchy ferret janitor, was even less helpful than he'd been on the first day, barely answering in comprehensible words.

"You ain't makin' that thing come after me!" he shouted whenever they pushed him for answers, terror evident in his eyes. "I ain't no big pred! I can't defend myself! Don't want to get skinned, not me!"

Nick and Judy spent the better part of an hour in the interrogation room with him, but they got nothing.

"Is there nothing on the security footage?" asked Stefan, the guard from Emerald Isle. He heaved a sigh. "I've gone over that morning a thousand times in my head, and I just – I can't figure it out. I'm the head of security – I should know what happened! But I don't! It's killing me!"

Nick and Judy sat down at the table with him, shoulders tight.

"Yeah," said Judy lowly, her blank eyes on the table and voice hoarse. "We get that."

The questioning went on.

Hours and hours spent talking, asking the same questions, with every minute moving by like a painful scrape against Nick and Judy's minds, pushing them to more heated exchanges with the witnesses, who responded with their own frustrations.

"If you don't see anything on the cameras and we haven't told you anything, maybe you should do the smart thing and look elsewhere!" barked Burly. "Or are you two just so incompetent than you can't think of anywhere else to look?"

Day wore into the afternoon. Nick and Judy sat at the table, silent.

The door to the interrogation room opened and the nurse entered, Ellis. Casting a worried look at Nick and Judy, he took a seat across from them at the table, still wearing his scrubs from a previous shift. He waited patiently for them to speak, but it took a minute for either of the officers to work up the energy to stand and talk.

"Where were you on the night of the murder?" asked Nick tiredly, now out of his seat and standing in front of the table. Judy occupied a corner, listening and taking notes.

"At the front desk, mostly," said Ellis, just as he had before. "I left once or twice to make rounds, but I was there most of the night."

"The desk is located at the entrance to Emerald Isle, right?" asked Nick, and although his words were slow and measured, he could feel the hopelessness pushing on him. It felt like his rib cage was closing in around his heart, compressing it over and over again.

"Right," the coyote nodded.

"And you still didn't see anyone enter the premises?" asked Nick, eyes narrowed. Ellis shook his head fervently, but Nick moved closely to the table and startled the coyote into backing against his seat. " _Think_ before you answer, Ellis."

"I didn't see anyone!" the coyote protested, glancing nervously at Judy. "I promise, if I knew something, I would tell you – "

Nick pulled away from the table and growled, images of the night before flashing into his mind. Judy covered in those marks. Her sobs. The apartment, physically the same but no longer a place of safety. He balled his fist near his face and whirled to face Ellis again.

"Your co-worker was murdered within thirty feet of your building! Something you saw HAS to stand out to you!"

"I'm sorry!" exclaimed Ellis, eyes darting to Judy, barely flickering to Nick before looking at her again, backing further away from Nick while still in his chair, hands on the edges of the table. "Please, Officers, if I knew anything that would help you – "

"He doesn't know anything," murmured Judy, shaking her head.

"He has to! He's our last witness!" argued Nick, pointing at Ellis. "There has to be something – _anything_ that anyone at that place can tell us!"

"Officer Wilde," Ellis said his name but kept looking at Judy, as if hoping she would stop Nick. "I've already told you everything I know, I want to help, I do – "

His constant nervous chatter tugged at the edges of Nick's nerves, pulling them out like loose threads.

"I want to help, I do, I just, it's so horrible, I don't – I want to – Please – "

The coyote looked over at Judy desperately again, but Nick, furious and frayed, slammed his hands down on the table right in front of Ellis with a loud, echoing thump.

" _Look at me, I'm the one talking!"_

The only sound that followed was Nick's labored breathing, and the slight _scrch scrch_ of his claws against the table. Ellis froze and his chatter stopped, his head still facing Judy in the corner.

Then, instead of answering, he turned slowly in Nick's direction, shifting away from Judy as his eyes lifted to Nick's.

In that moment, Ellis' features, like the intricate internal gears of a clock, moved and shifted in sync with one another to form an entirely unrecognizable expression. His eyes and mouth sank back against his skull, and the quirk of his lips revealed a flash of sharp fangs. The color of his eyes appeared darker and brighter in the same instant, reflecting a hollowness that had not been there before.

Gathered at the center of this transformation was a hint of amusement, a genuine mirth which tugged on Ellis' skin until it tightened into something new, creating an altogether different face than the one Nick and Judy had known.

As he looked at Nick, and Nick looked back at him, they both knew.

Terror spiked Nick's heart like a jagged blade, squeezing his lungs and locking his joints, rooting him to his spot.

"Ahem!"

Judy had called his name more than once, but Nick couldn't look away from Ellis. The other creature held his gaze unblinkingly.

" _Officer Wilde_ ," came Judy's firm voice, and this time Nick managed to blink, to give her a hint of his attention. His partner's expression was furious. "I said, may I speak to you outside?"

Nick fumbled for his words, but Judy simply turned to Ellis and asked, "I'm sorry, Mr. Ellis. My partner has been under a lot of stress. Can we leave you for a moment?"

Nick watched, horrified, as Ellis' features smoothed into the benign countenance he and Judy had seen countless times before. "Of course, Officer," he said to Judy, the sunken features Nick had glimpsed now carefully in remission. "Please, take all the time you need."

Before Nick could respond, Judy tugged him out of the interrogation room and barely kept herself from slamming the door. "What was that all about, Nick?" she snapped. "I know we're having a tough time – "

"It's him." Nick whirled to face her, his eyes wide, hands in the air as he gestured anxiously, pointing and waving at the two-way mirror. "Judy, it's him, it's Ellis. He's the killer."

The rabbit's angry glare shifted to confusion, before curling into anger again. "You _cannot_ be serious."

"Judy!" Nick waved his arms frantically, desperate, wild with the desire to show her the truth, what he had seen. "I'm serious! It's Ellis!"

"Why do you think that?" Judy asked, mustering a small bit of calm. The struggle to maintain it was clear.

"Did you not see his face?" shrieked Nick, panicked. "Didn't you see what I saw?"

"His face?" repeated Judy, tired features scrunching with incredulity. "Nick, I was standing right there next to you! I didn't see anything! What are you even talking about?"

"His FACE!" Nick tossed out an arm at the two-way mirror, where Ellis sat calmly on the right side of the plain table. "He's – He's the killer, Judy, I mean it. I can _feel_ it."

The smaller police officer shook her head, fisting her hand near her face. "I cannot believe you are doing this right now, Nick."

"Wha – No, Judy, I mean it – "

"Where is your evidence?" exclaimed Judy, hot tears pricking at the corners of her eyes. "Where, Nick? Besides a look, tell me what you have to go on, please!"

"He was at Emerald Isle the night of the murder," pointed out Nick heatedly.

"On camera! He has an alibi, Nick, we have documented evidence that he was at his desk when the rabbit was murdered! Geez, Nick! You've looked at that tape a hundred times!"

Huffing, Judy turned her back to Nick and paced, unable to resist a groan.

"Not to mention the fact," she said, whirling to face him again, "that we know the killer has _white_ fur, Nick. White! And what color is Ellis?" She pointed to the mirror. "His fur is so dark, it's almost black! Does he look like he has any white fur on him to you?"

"I don't know how to explain it," admitted Nick, before going on animatedly, "but he did it. I just know it!"

He watched as Judy shook her head, reaching up a hand to brush over her face. "Right," she murmured dryly. "Okay, so… you're willing to accuse someone… without evidence."

 _Again._ She didn't say it, but it was there, as obvious as neon sign.

Nick's shoulders dropped, his entire body deflated for a single miserable moment. "You're talking about Jumps," he said lowly, unable to keep the bitterness out of his voice.

"All I'm saying," started Judy heatedly, "is we can't just throw around murder accusations because of feelings and hunches! We need evidence, Nick! And Bogo gave us this job because he's depending on us – "

"Oh, here we go," cut in Nick.

"Chief Bogo _trusts us_ to get this done – "

"Oh, for god's sake, Judy!" Nick sliced through the air with one long arm before shouting in a rush, " _Bogo only gave you this case to use you as bait!"_

He regretted the words as soon as they were out of his mouth.

The argument came to a sudden halt, with not a word being said between them. Judy's face, on the other hand, spoke volumes. More hurt than any one animal should ever experience passed over her features in a slideshow of shock, doubt and pain.

"That's not true," she all but whispered, eyes turning to the ground.

"I – Judy," croaked Nick, desperate to take it back, but Judy took a step away from him and shook her head. When she looked up at him again, her eyes were hard.

"I don't care why I got this case. I don't care what you think or what Bogo's reasoning was. This is my job… and I'm going to do it to the best of my abilities or _give my life_ trying," she said resolutely. Nick closed his eyes at her words, chest painfully tight.

After a few moments of silence, she spoke up again. "I'm letting the witness go." With that, she turned back to the interrogation room and spoke to Ellis, who thanked her graciously and wished her all the best.

As Ellis walked out of the room, he spared a glance at Nick. "Good night, Officer Wilde," he said, in no less pleasant tones than he'd used with Judy. He offered Nick one last smile before walking out, pausing in the lobby of the station and chatting with Clawhauser, who gave the coyote his usual amicable conversation.

Nick looked up in time to see Judy stomp off. He moved to go after her, but she turned and made her way into the evidence room, shutting the door soundly behind her. It was clear she didn't want him or anyone else to follow. Scowling, Nick turned away and let his eyes drift over to Ellis again.

The damn nurse was just standing around, talking to others without a care in the world, offering all the pleasantries anyone might ask for. Nick clenched his jaw and moved around the lobby, unable to take his eyes off the coyote in scrubs.

"Hey, Nicky!"

Blinking, Nick looked up at the familiar voice, first looking up and then looking down. "Finnick," he blinked, looking up at Ellis again but moving closer to the holding cell, where his friend lounged behind bars. "What're you doing in there?"

The small fox paused long enough to cut Nick with a glare. "Oh, well, you know. I wanted to take a vacation, but all the hotels were full, so…"

Nick looked back at him, eyebrow raised, before Finnick scowled and said, "The hell you think I'm doin' in here? Got busted. And I tried to call you, maybe get a little favor, but your damn phone isn't working."

"Oh," said Nick dully, not looking at Finnick still. "Sorry. It got fried."

"Yeah, I gathered," grunted the small fox. "You know what? You are some kinda buddy, you know that? And by some kinda buddy, I mean you're a slackin' fox with a funny lookin' tail. I never told ya, outta respect. But you're on my list, now, you hear? All bets are off."

Inhaling deeply, Nick spared a moment to look away from Ellis and give his friend a Look.

"Finnick, I cannot even begin to tell you how little time I have for this right now," he said, shifting away from the cell again. Of course, that didn't stop Finnick.

"And you know what else?" went on the small fox. "I'm gonna find a new friend! A new partner in crime! Maybe from somewhere exotic. Oh!" He snapped his fingers. "I know, I'll find one of those weird lizard-y fellas, from those islands far off. What're they called? Oh, chameleons!"

Nick worked his hands over his face, claws digging into his fur and pressing against his skin as he watched Ellis wave good-bye to the others and then step out of the station.

"Those guys gotta be good at crime," went on Finnick, large head against the bars. "They can do all kindsa' stuff. Lose their tails, camouflage. Plus, they got eyes that can look all over the place."

Nick froze, his bleary mind suddenly alert. "Wait, what – " He turned swiftly to Finnick, who was still talking, oblivious.

"Which is weird and totally unfair, I mean," went on Finnick thoughtlessly. "Why they gotta look in so many different directions? The hell they gotta look at that's so damn important?"

"Finnick, shut up!" Nick pressed against the bars. "What was the other thing you said?"

"About what? Their eyes? Cause honestly, it's freaky when you really see it – "

"The camouflage," hissed Nick. Finnick blinked, looking thoughtful before he nodded.

"Oh, right. Yeah, uh. Well, they can camouflage themselves. Like, blend into the environment? Change their color? They use it to hide, I think." The words were barely out of Finnick's mouth before Nick twisted in his spot to face the glass doors at the front of the building, through which Ellis had only just left.

Nick's heart jumped into his throat, his lips parted. For a moment, shock held him still, but then anger seeped in, and when he spoke, it was through clenched teeth.

"He's not a coyote."

Finnick stared from his spot. "What? Who?"

Claws tightened in Nick's hand, his green eyes sharp and his teeth bared. "He's not a coyote," he said again, before snapping his taser gun into place.

"He's a _fucking fox_."

Rushing to the front doors of the station, Nick spotted Ellis down the street, ready to round a corner to the bus stop. Fury set in, and Nick dashed off into the street, ignoring the frantic calls of his name from inside.

* * *

Inside the evidence room, Judy sat at a desk with a blank screen in front of her, grey and grainy, waiting for a command. Sighing heavily, she moved forward until her elbows supported her on the desk. She wiped at a few frustrated tears.

After a few moments of this, she looked up at the stack of jump drives containing the security footage from the retirement community. For a moment, she did nothing. Then she reached over reluctantly and plugged one into the computer, pulling up the security footage from the night of the attack.

It was the footage from the lobby, where Marla and Ellis sat on the night-shift, doing not much of anything except paperwork and drinking coffee. Judy watched the footage for what felt like the thousandth time.

Marla doodling in a notebook. Ellis reading from a medical textbook. Both sharing pictures from their phones, laughing occasionally.

In the beginning, the murder victim, Melissa, was there with them. She often texted or kept to herself, sneaking off to talk on the phone or occasionally to do actual work. Then, Marla left the two alone to do her rounds, and Melissa waved to Ellis, obviously leaving for her break… the one she never came back from.

Judy watched, even though she'd reviewed the footage more times than she could count.

"Come on, Nick," muttered the bunny, leaning forward as she watched Ellis move about the desk doing busy-work, left alone and seemingly bored. "What're you talking about…?"

On the grainy screen, Ellis took a seat at the desk and began writing something, though he paused when he accidentally knocked a pen off the desk. He reached over, picked it up, and placed it in the holder once more.

Judy had seen it before, but now, her suspicions raised, she found the image oddly familiar.

Lips pursed, she reached forward and paused the footage, glancing at the time stamp in the corner. Eyes shifting back to the screen, she rewound the footage, first ten minutes, and then fifteen, watching it again.

Exactly thirteen minutes before, Ellis accidentally knocked a pen off the desk. He reached over, picked it up, and put it in the holder. The same pen. To the same spot.

Her eyes widened, sweat suddenly pressing at her fur.

"It's a loop," she whispered in horror.

The door to the evidence room burst open.

"Hopps!" Bogo filled the doorway with his massive shadow. "Wilde ran out of the station and we can't reach him!"

Fear seized Judy like a hand on her throat.

 _No._

* * *

Nick ran at the street corner where Ellis had disappeared, but then he stopped, thinking back on the Zootopia alleys he knew so well.

Turning, he moved around a corner away from the main street and jogged ahead of Ellis, keeping a hidden spot against the side of a tall brick building.

Body humming with renewed energy, Nick slipped along the shadows of the gradually fading afternoon light, his body low to avoid being spotted. He easily managed to get ahead of Ellis' leisurely pace and waited in an alley between two shops.

As soon as Ellis passed by, Nick snatched the larger predator off the street and slammed him against a brick wall.

"What in the – Officer Wilde!" exclaimed Ellis, terrified. "What're you doing?"

"Tell me!" snarled Nick, well aware that he'd left all sense of decorum, all sense of _sense,_ far behind. "Tell me how you did it. Tell me why you're targeting those prey, tell me what the hell your – "

"Officer Wilde, please, I don't know what you're talking – "

"Stop lying!"

"Pl – Please," heaved Ellis, nearly crying, pulling half-heartedly in an attempt to escape Nick's manic grip. "I – I'll go back to the station, I'll try to help! But I don't know – "

"TELL ME, NOW!" roared Nick, but Ellis' frantic babble continued.

"N – No, no, please, I know you're – under a lot of stress, Officer, but this – this isn't – I want to help – "

Nick's grip remained unrelenting, but Ellis' chatter continued in earnest. It was so distracting that Nick didn't sense Ellis' movement until he saw the other creature's hand moving at his side. Slowly, Ellis raised something next to both of their faces.

Clutched in his claws was Judy's carrot pen recorder. Nick's eyes widened. The button for _record_ remained pressed down, but it was no longer clipped to Nick's belt, as it had been moments before.

"Please, Officer," continued Ellis, every bit as panicked as before, even as he slowly waved the recorder in his hand. "I can't, I want to help, please don't hurt me!"

 _Crack._

The pen snapped in Ellis' hand, and his panicked mantra ended just as suddenly.

Nick had only a split-second to react before Ellis turned and shoved him against the wall, knocking the wind out of him and pressing him at shoulder-height with Ellis, so that his feet dangled. Nick's eyes shot up to Ellis' face, and he realized with a great deal of dread that the mask was gone, and the chilling features he'd seen in the interrogation room had taken root once more.

"Did you really think…" said Ellis, his tone no longer high-pitched and scrambling, but instead low and severe, "… that a confession like that would hold up in court?"

The change in his voice was as disorienting as his altered appearance. He was a macabre doppelganger of who Nick had known - the change in his features was petrifying, a horrifying parody of what it had been. Nick felt like he was watching a body decompose in front of his own eyes.

Nick's response was a growl, the only thing he could muster while he tried to work his hand loose enough to reach his radio.

"Ah," said Ellis, his head ducking low and a grin distorting his peculiar features, "But you probably didn't want that confession for a judge, did you? Oh, no… That little recording would've been for Judy." The larger predator pushed roughly on Nick and tightened his hold, preventing him from moving his arms at all.

"You - " Ellis paused here to grunt and maneuver Nick's arms into a painful twist, causing the smaller fox to yelp. "You wanted to prove you were right. You wanted to prove to her and everyone else… that you're not just a screw-up." He leaned close again, his voice barely more than a low, guttural whisper.

" _You failed._ "

Nick shoved as hard as he could, but Ellis' grip remained. "You're done," he snarled to Ellis, fangs bared. "I know what you are."

At this, Ellis' eyes snapped to Nick's, and he seemed equal parts amused and angry, like a parent who couldn't find it in themselves to scold a misbehaving child. "Oh, Nicholas…" He grinned, but his teeth grinded together unpleasantly.

"You could peel me apart layer by layer by layer… and you still wouldn't know what I am."

It was then that Ellis noticed a small blinking light on Nick's radio, and he flashed Nick another amused look before yanking it from the fox's belt. Clicking on the volume, the pair listened with rapt attention as Judy called for Nick to answer, over and over again.

"She's worried about you," said Ellis, smirking at Nick's growing panic. "We should let her know where you are."

Nick sucked in a deep breath to yell, to fight, to do anything, but Ellis took that moment to punch him in the stomach hard, just below the ribs. Gasping in pain, Nick looked back up just in time for Ellis to turn swiftly and toss him into the brick wall.

He hit it with a crunch, and everything went black.

* * *

Judy and the other officers burst out of the station, quickly calling out to the other officers who were already looking. Judy tried the radio over and over again, but she got only muffled static for her efforts. Panic threatened to overwhelm her, but she kept steady.

Bogo ordered them out, and Judy – along with four other officers – turned west, hurrying down the streets.

"Wilde!" called Anders over the radio, looking around desperately. "Wilde, give us your status!"

The five officers paused to look around, and Anders called into the radio again. One of Judy's ears lifted.

"Wait, Anders – I heard it! I heard your voice on Nick's radio!" Turning on her heel, she jogged along the sidewalk, ears alert. Anders remained where he was so his voice wouldn't confuse Judy's hearing, and after a few minutes, Judy picked up on the voice again.

"There!" She darted forward, turning down an alleyway, only to freeze in her spot.

At the end of the alleyway, Nick's radio sat perched on top of a crate – alone, without the fox in sight.

The other officers hurried up behind Judy, each falling into defensive positions when they were met with the empty stretch of concrete. Judy carefully reigned in her dread, which threatened to boil over into a furious whirlwind of rage.

 _Nick._

Advancing slowly with the other officers, Judy held her taser gun up high.

"Where is Nick?" she asked the empty air. "Come out, _now_!"

For a moment, no sounds met them. Then, overhead, something shuffled on the rooftop. Looking up at the sky, Judy realized now that night had fallen, and the only thing she could see on the roof was a looming shadow and a pair of glinting eyes.

Before anyone could react, it darted off. "NO!" Judy raced off after the shadow with the other officers hot on her tail. The larger animals thundered by her with their longer strides, but the alleyway ended at an wooden fence, and even when Grizzoli slammed up against it, the barrier didn't give.

Judy jumped forward without slowing and slid through a small hole.

"HOPPS!" shouted Trunkaby, but Judy kept running.

"HE'S GOT NICK!" she shouted in reply, speeding forward with single-minded purpose.

The following alleyway opened up to another, less-traveled street, and a great large area of construction. Few streetlights illuminated the sparsely-populated area, and pieces of buildings occupied some of the sidewalks. The evening was a mix of dark blues, greys and black, and the deserted construction areas did little in the way of comforting light.

Judy looked around wildly for the figure, only to spot him standing just in front of a skeletal building-in-progress. It immediately turned and rushed inside, disappearing into the shadows of the first floor.

Judy bolted after it. Then, before she made it into the shadowed area, she skidded to a stop.

Eyes narrowed, Judy turned and moved in the opposite direction, without taking the same path as the killer. Instead, she moved around the building and grasped the metal rods creating the building's frame, pulling herself up silently and swiftly.

When she was several feet above the concrete foundation, she maneuvered herself until she could use the hint of moonlight to see into the building. It was then that she realized a single streetlight in the back offered some kind of light, further from the would-be entrance.

Ellis waited there, gaze expectantly set on the front of the building. Judy's heart pounded.

With every effort at silence, Judy pulled her taser gun out of its holster and pointed. Once she had Ellis locked in her sights, she pulled the trigger.

He spotted her at the last minute and rolled out of the way, but when he looked back up in her direction, a brief expression of shock colored his features. Then, Judy saw it – the face Nick had been so terrified of before, in the interrogation room.

"ZPD! STAY WHERE YOU ARE!" she shouted, jumping onto the ground and rolling to a stand, but as soon as she was up, Ellis darted away and made use of the many beams and rods in the unfinished building to hide and maneuver. He jumped onto one and leaped, nearly landing right on top of Judy, who deftly rolled out of the way.

"Ooh," he purred, lips pulling back into a strange grin. "Fast bunny."

Judy snapped up her gun to shoot. " _Trained_ bunny," she growled.

Judy shot again, and Ellis dodged, moving behind a beam deftly before turning and charging right at her. He slammed into Judy like a freight train, but the rabbit turned and used her legs to throw him off, whirling before she could even think about it and smashing her shock stick against the ground in an attempt to hit him.

It hit home, but it barely slowed him. Ellis snatched the shock baton by its end, but Judy twirled and yanked it out of his grip before he could take it from her. She swung again at his knees, but he darted away, putting some distance between them.

"You think this is my first time chasing a bunny?" he asked, a bit breathless as he paced in and out of the shadows. "I've been doing this for years, Judy."

She narrowed her eyes. "Not with me, you haven't."

A groan sounded in the corner, and Judy's head snapped in the direction of the noise. Ellis took advantage of her distraction to jump up and catch a beam on another level, crawling up high as Judy ran to the lump of blue fabric and red fur on the ground.

"Nick!" she exclaimed, pulling him upright.

A low chuckle sounded overhead, but Judy pushed it out of her mind. She could feel Ellis circling them, pacing leisurely, unhurried.

"Judy…?" Nick blinked, instantly becoming alert when he saw her face in the dim lighting. "Judy!"

"Oh, god," she hugged him tightly, and he winced in response. "Are you okay – I'm – I'm so sorry, Nick – "

But Nick shook his head, pulling himself up from where Ellis had dumped him on the floor. His side ached and he was sure he was bleeding, but when he spotted the shadow moving overhead, the pain fell far away in his mind.

The shadow moved, kicking out suddenly. A lever holding up a platform of beams jumped in response, and heavy metal tumbled right in front of Nick and Judy, clattering loudly on the floor and crashing through anything in its way.

"Look out!" Nick and Judy scrambled to avoid being crushed, shouting out as they dove behind different metal supports, some twelve feet apart.

"Nick, I'm sorry!" called out Judy again, pressed against her hiding spot and desperate to give him her apology, although she couldn't explain why. "You were right about Ellis – He faked the security footage!"

Nick peered around his hiding spot just in time to see Ellis hop down to the ground floor again, well pleased with himself.

"Yeah," Nick said slowly, emerging from his hiding spot to stand several feet away from Ellis, staring him down. "He faked a lot of things…" The two predators locked gazes, and although Ellis' posture seemed relaxed, his eyes on Nick were deeply narrowed.

"He's been lying this whole time," Nick's fingers curled tight at his sides. "He's not who he says he is. He's not even _what_ he says he is. He's not a damn nurse or a coyote."

Nick moved forward. "He is a very… _big_ … arctic fox."

"Now, that's not quite fair," said Ellis in a drawl, eyes dark, even while his tone remained coy. "… I really am a nurse."

"So let me guess," said Nick, moving to the side with a pained, uneven gait. "You leave during the winter time, when your fur changes color to white. Claim some kind of emergency… spend a few months hiding out, probably in Tundra Town." Nick narrowed his eyes. "…commit your murders. And then you come back, carve up your ears and your tail, and pretend to be something you're not."

"Oh, you make it sound so simple," said Ellis, frowning as if disappointed. "Almost pedestrian… but what I do – it's amazing. Admirable, even."

Ellis advanced slowly, his tones shifting to desperation, beseeching, not all that different than the feigned pleading he'd done in the interrogation room. "Don't you see how little it takes?" he asked, hands curled in front of him. "Some different shapes, a change of scent… And suddenly, everyone sees something different. _You're_ different. _I'm_ different. Because of what they see. Isn't that odd?"

Nick and Judy stood next to one another, gazes hard.

" _Isn't it_?" asked Ellis again loudly, his eyes wild for just a moment before they glassed over. He straightened, smiling in a very sudden, disarming kind of way. "All it takes is a few little changes, and the basic, simple-minded observance of others to shape me. To give me _my_ life." He gestured to himself, and though his smile remained, it chilled considerably.

The slow movement of Judy's hand had gone unnoticed by Ellis up until now, but as soon as he saw her grip her taser gun, he jumped into the shadows once more, snatching onto a beam and pulling himself up.

"Go!" shouted Judy to Nick, rushing after him, and she and Nick followed him up to the precarious second floor of the building, and then further up still. Some platforms and partial floors existed on various levels, and it was on these that the three creatures scaled, one right after another. Nick's foot caught one piece of wood and knocked it down several feet, where it fell loudly to the floor, an echoing reminder of how unsteady the footing was.

The three mammals stopped high above the foundation, walking on rickety lifts with the background lights of Zootopia giving them their only hope of illumination. "STOP!" Judy called out, firing at the shadow, who managed to dodge it again.

With that, he charged at her again, and Nick and Judy jumped apart before Ellis could barrel into them. He rolled on the platform and jumped to his feet before he could find his way off the high edge, where the street sat far below.

"I tried to figure it out," Ellis told them in between pants, sharp teeth visible as he spoke almost languidly, despite Nick and Judy's speedy attacks. "In nursing school, I pined – I _pined_ over the bodies as we studied them, taking away each piece, separating it, labeling it, putting it back together. I wanted to know – Why? What made this creature think this way, what did it give to the world? I looked for answers all the time, but that damned place never told me anything of value."

Nick leaped at Ellis, tackling him to the ground, but Ellis fought him off and hurled him at a beam. The already injured fox hit it with a thwack, falling down and heaving as he tried to get back up.

" _I just wanted to see!"_ screamed Ellis, so suddenly and so loud, it echoed off the half-finished walls of the empty building. Then he reverted to his calm tones once more, circling Judy, who fired off at him and then charged with her shock baton. He twisted it from her grip this time, tossing it away, swiping at her, but Judy managed to duck and land a hit in his stomach.

He stumbled back, but he did not fall, simply clutching his stomach. When he lifted his head again, he spoke directly to Judy, his words barely more than a hoarse whisper.

"I looked and looked and looked for answers, but what did I see? _Nothing_."

"Stop trying to give yourself some kind of privileged, all-suffering purpose!" snapped Judy. "You killed those mammals because you enjoyed it!"

Ellis' lips pulled back in a feral grin. "It was cathartic, I admit…" His eyes flashed as he moved behind a steel beam to avoid Judy's taser gun. "But only for a little while. Then it drifts away, like most other feelings, leaving me with the undeniable sense that even when I think I've hit my lowest point… I have yet lower to go." He peered between two beams, pushing his face through to flash his fangs at Judy.

"And I welcome it."

Darting around the beams, Ellis lunged at Judy and lashed out with one hand, claws extended. Judy didn't quite managed to duck in time, and one of the claws caught her ear, slicing a deep it and splattering the floor with blood. She cried out, jumping away and turning to slam her taser gun into his muzzle before taking refuge behind a pile of insulation.

Gasping, she swiped the blood from her face and blinked it out of her eyes. When she heard Ellis round the corner, she turned and kicked at the pile of insulation; the pile fell from its perch and blocked Ellis' charge, but he moved around it quickly, dropping to all fours in a manic, feral posture.

Judy shot at him again with a furious growl, but Ellis disappeared into the shadows, and she heard Nick rise behind her, grunting in pain but standing.

"We've got to stop him," he wheezed, taking in a deep breath before straightening.

It was then that Ellis dove at them again, and the pair of officers fell under his larger weight, each pushing back against him. Ellis struck out, fangs bared, all but a furious wild animal in that moment. One of his claws cut across Judy's arm, splitting the skin and spilling blood onto her uniform. She cried out and pushed against Ellis' weight, and Nick did the same, shoving him off and then – thwack! – Nick smashed his own shock baton across Ellis' face, and the other creature howled.

The two darted away and ducked behind a pile of lumber. "Damn it!" groaned Nick, seeing Judy's blood, but the bunny was preoccupied. Her ear lifted, and she gasped. "The other officers are here, Nick! I can hear the outside!"

"If Ellis sees them, he's gonna run."

Judy turned her face towards the front of the building, where the steel beams supported the structure without walls. Her eyes narrowed.

"Judy," said Nick in warning tones, because he could sense her crazed resolve. The name was barely out of his mouth before she jumped up and flew across the partial-floor, straight in the direction of the ledge.

"JUDY!"

Ellis' head snapped in Judy's direction, and he instantly pounced on her run, tearing off after her at breakneck speed. Judy booked it across the platform with all the speed she could muster, not slowing the least as she came closer and closer to the empty space where the unfinished building ended.

Ellis closed in on her, but Judy danced out of his reach. Then, when she reached the end of the platform, she leaped straight off into the open air.

However, instead of plummeting to the ground, she caught the metal beam of the building, using it to swing herself around and slam both feet into the shocked Ellis' chest. The larger predator flew backwards from the impact, slamming into the ground with a brutal thud.

As soon as Judy landed back on the platform, she rolled into a stand. "NICK!"

Nick reacted instantly, pulling out his own shock baton and jamming it into Ellis' shoulder. The electric shock jolted the larger fox, and his body lurched painfully in response, his back arching. His mouth fell open, his eyes widened, and he reached for Nick.

Then he stopped, and his arms fell limply to the floor, static and motionless. Ellis' eyes closed.

Judy was on both of them in an instant, and she pulled out her handcuffs, rolling over Ellis with a grunt and cuffing his hands behind him.

Nick and Judy paused, suddenly still. The shouts and echoes from the other officers nearby floated up to them, but their small dark area was silent.

Then Judy let out a long, slow breath, before looking up at Nick with something threatening at a smile.

"He's down," croaked Nick, his own body relaxing, hair by hair. "He's – He's down, you did it."

"Nick, oh my god," Judy pushed herself into the tired fox's arms, holding him tightly for a moment as a slightly hysterical giggle escaped her. "I'm so glad you're okay. I'm – oh, Nick. I'm so glad…"

"HOPPS! WILDE!"

The two looked up at Bogo's sharp voice, floating up at them from a few floors below. The pair of officers looked at one another and laughed. "We're up here, Chief," called down Judy, slowly pushing herself up from her knees to stand. "We got him!"

She looked over at Nick, smiling. "We got him."

"You got him," corrected Nick, frowning at the blood from her ear and arm. "The least I can do is haul him out." Waving her off, Nick pulled on the last of his strength and heaved up the larger predator, whose dead weight was not kind to Nick's tired muscles. Several feet below, Bogo called up to them again.

"We're bringing down the prisoner!" answered Judy, a few feet ahead. She turned back to look at Nick, all smiles, and Nick thought to himself that he'd never loved anything more than the look on her face in that moment.

But then her face changed, and she opened her mouth to shout. But it was too late.

The jolt to his side felt like concentrated fire, and Nick jerked away from the limp body only to see Ellis standing, features furious and manic. He slammed his shoulder into Nick and snatched the handcuff keys when he went down on the ground.

"NO!" Judy leaped for Ellis, but he turned and swiped at her with his claws, catching her on the side and sending her off the platform and straight off the edge. Nick's agony fell away as he jumped up, screaming out her name, reaching for her only to watch her disappear.

He scrambled to the edge, his mind a million flashes of what kind of carnage he might see.

But Judy was safe in the arms of Grizzoli, who'd caught her as he waited below.

"NICK!" she screamed as soon as she saw him. "DON'T LET ELLIS GET AWAY!"

His head snapping back to where Ellis had been, Nick pulled back his lips in a growl and jumped up, his body moving in all the wrong ways as it fought to overcome the pain and agony. Ellis hurried across the platform and directly towards a wooden beam that connected two of the half-finished buildings.

Nick took off after him, adrenaline pushing his muscles into action.

The night on the rooftop with Michael flashed through his mind, and the wordless, hazy promise that he wouldn't let him get away this time propelled Nick forward. Ellis rushed across a slim wooden beam that sat some eighty feet in the air, and as soon as he was across to the next building, he turned to look at Nick – and then kicked the beam away.

The smaller fox was already halfway across when it fell, and suddenly, he was falling through the air; thankfully, some instinct took over him, some miraculous reflex, and he snatched the lower level of the next building before the concrete delivered him to an untimely end.

Pulling himself up, Nick turned his head up and began to climb, moving on the outside of the building Ellis had escaped to. When he pulled himself up to the level where Ellis had gone, he saw nothing but shadows and more building supplies.

Nick lifted himself to a stand, his eyes slowly adjusting to the night vision. When it did, he spotted something on the floor – the handcuffs.

 _Great,_ he thought, and he knew he was walking a thin line between hysteria and wry annoyance. _Don't suppose he managed to step on a nail while he's in here._

Pulling out his taser gun, Nick edged forward, eyes sharp on every corner. There were no other buildings on the opposite side, and the police were all over the ground. Ellis had to be in here.

"I knew when I saw you two on television, you know."

Nick turned swiftly at Ellis' voice, but the larger fox remained hidden, somewhere above him on a rafter or beam.

"I broke my own code. I killed during my off-season. Highly irregular… Honestly, you should be flattered," went on the low voice.

"Come out!" snarled Nick, looking all around.

"But I just had to know if it would be you two who came after me," continued Ellis, suddenly appearing in view of Nick, but out of range of the gun. He leaned forward and gripped the bars with blood-stained claws. "I had to see you. That's why I got the job at Emerald Isle. That's why I worked your mother's unit. Because you two – you were interesting to me, in a world where everything I saw was just one cluster of confused simpletons, too stupid to see what I was doing."

"Your superiority complex doesn't give you the right to murder," snarled Nick. "And it sure as hell doesn't give you a right to ever lay a hand on my family."

Ellis remained just out of range, and his lips quirked.

"It doesn't matter what I have the right to do or not do, Nick. It's been done. And the truly terrible thing about it is…" Ellis moved closer, "… there will always be mammals like me out there. They may not be as skilled or as thoughtful as me, but they're there… And you'll never be rid of that kind of evil. Not for as long as we all live together."

Nick narrowed his eyes deeply.

"No," said Ellis languidly, tapping his chin. "It isn't me that is wicked. It is this broken, unlawful, unforgiving, putrid world that is acting _on_ me. _Through_ me. This world, Nicholas Wilde, is what's wicked."

Nick hadn't even realized how close Ellis had gotten, but now he saw that the creature stood only a few feet in front of him, his head dipped low, eyes glinting in the darkness.

"And you know it's true," finished the other fox in a whisper. "After the way you've been treated… You know I'm not lying."

Nick Wilde stood across from Ellis with his hand on his gun, shoulders tight and throbbing ache in his ribs reminding him every second how he'd already lost this fight more than once. Ellis was faster, stronger and meaner than he was. There was no getting around that.

"I'll tell you what I know," Nick responded evenly, raising his gun. "Whatever this world is, whatever you _think_ it is… You don't deserve to be a part of it."

A clear shot opened up and Nick fired instantly. Ellis jumped out of the way, rounding the beams and tackling him to the floor, where they landed with a crash. Ellis swiped at Nick and caught his shoulder, slicing into the meat there and splitting open his skin in a long cut. Nick yelped and tried to roll away, but he only managed barely escape when Ellis snatched his taser gun and tossed it away. It skipped a few times and then fell through some unstable flooring, disappearing.

 _Shit,_ thought Nick, jumping up with a pained gasp. He tried to reach it, but it was gone, and he barely turned in time to avoid another swipe from Ellis, and then another, the other creature's larger hands smashing into the beams with echoing thuds.

Nick pulled out his shock baton and swung at Ellis, but the other fox caught his arm and twisted the baton away. It fell from Nick's grip and rolled away. Nick could only watch it for a moment before Ellis slammed a fist into his stomach, kicking the smaller fox away so that he tumbled down one floor and landed roughly on a platform filled with lumber.

Ellis circled above. "Did you lose your little weapons?" he taunted from above, leaning over to peer at Nick as he struggled to stand, his venomous glare moving up to Ellis, who gestured grandly, shouting in the empty building.

"Oh, Nick! Don't you know everything you need for the kill was given to you by _nature_?"

He jumped down and landed very near Nick, who pushed himself to stand, still glaring, breathing hard. Ellis gazed upon him unsympathetically, and his features reverted back to their placid state.

"I didn't always go for the small ones, before. Many, many years ago, before my victims were linked together… but then, I realized how much easier it was to subdue a small prey animal. So soft… so tender. So weak."

Nick tried to gear himself up for an attack, but he could barely see straight, the pain was so intense. Instead, he tried to remain defensive as Ellis moved around him with ease.

"I always liked the bodies, Nick. But those small little prey… Who knew they could hide so much on the inside? It was like a revelation to me, when I started with them. Their bodies were a microcosm of the universe. They sated me, when nothing else did."

Ellis paused in front of Nick, and his features took on a delighted look.

"When I saw you two on television, I knew I had to learn more. You two were different. Would you be different on the inside, too? Apart from other foxes and rabbits?" He tilted his head at Nick. "You had to be. You had to be."

With that, Ellis reached forward and snatched up Nick, yanking him by his arm and tugging him to the open front of the building, which faced the dark street. Below, news stations had gathered, and more police officers clustered nearby. Ellis kept Nick in the shadows where they couldn't be seen, wrapping both arms firmly around the struggling fox.

"You know," said Ellis in Nick's ear, his jaws hovering over Nick's right shoulder. "I have to say, I'm not disappointed. You two did exactly as I wanted. You moved in the right directions, you gave me all the information I needed… We worked well together, the three of us."

Nick tried to move, but his body was failing him, and he could only manage weak struggles. He thought about shouting out to the others, but he knew that as soon as he did that, Ellis would kill him.

"Shut up," Nick managed instead, furious despite the pain. "Shut your fucking mouth – "

"You are different from other foxes, Nick," Ellis went on hoarsely, his arms tight around Nick as he leaned further over the other fox's shoulder from behind. "Because you understand what I'm doing. You know."

"I don't understand anything about you – "

"Oh, but you do," interrupted Ellis, tilting his head a little, so that their faces brushed together. His hot breath brushed across Nick's fur. "After all, you're inclined to the small prey animals, too… How they move, how they look, how they feel… " His grip grew tighter on Nick, claws digging into his skin as he continued on, his voice soft.

"You and I both want to know what's on the inside of a rabbit," he said, and Nick stiffened, his rage pressing him to a point beyond anything he'd known in his entire life.

Ellis chuckled, feeling his anger. "We just have different methods of going about it," he continued thoughtfully.

"And who knows?" went on the larger predator from behind him. "Maybe after I kill you, I'll give this whole mess a few months to cool down here in Zootopia. And then I'll come back… " He leaned close, his voice barely more than a whisper, "… try things your way."

The lights blurred in the distance. The pain subsided. The world fell still. The sounds faded. Nick snapped his head to the side and caught Ellis' throat deep in his jaws.

Shock was the only way to describe the guttural noise Ellis made, but it lasted for only a split-second.

Then Nick twisted his head, and with the twist came a mouthful of flesh, coating Nick's tongue and teeth even after he spit it out. Ellis released him and stumbled back, his eyes wide and his hand jumping to what was left of his throat.

Something inside the injured fox drove him to swipe at Nick, but his motion was slow, and Nick ducked under it, jamming his own claws into Ellis' stomach with one last hit. The punch went deep, and Ellis looked up to meet Nick's gaze one last time before he sank to his knees.

Nick yanked out his hand, blood coating him past the wrist.

 _Thud._

It was only when Ellis fell that the noises around Nick suddenly came back to life, and the world outside came back into focus. When Nick looked up, he saw Judy, standing with the other members of the ZPD, just near a ladder they'd propped up to get them to his level.

They stared, all wearing matching expressions of disbelief. Even the most hardened officers looked over Nick and then Ellis with unveiled horror. But Nick looked past them, instead turning slowly to Judy, who stood still in her spot for a long moment.

Bleakly, Nick thought to himself that the taste of blood in his mouth might never go away.

Then Judy moved, limping across the platform and diving into his arms, holding him with the tightest grip he'd ever known.

No, he decided in that moment, as his shaking arms moved around her.

This was the feeling that would never go away.

* * *

 _REIGN OF TERROR ENDED - ZOOTOPIA'S SERIAL MURDERER KILLED AFTER CONFRONTATION WITH ZPD_

 _OFFICERS NICK WILDE AND JUDY HOPPS CLEARED OF ANY CHARGES INVOLVING DEATH OF ZOOTOPIA KILLER_

 _NEW EVIDENCE REVEALS ZOOTOPIA KILLER HAD A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE BEFORE ASSUMING A NEW NAME_

 _EMERALD ISLE RETIREMENT COMMUNITY: "WE HAD NO IDEA WHO HE REALLY WAS."_

 _ZOOTOPIA RETURNS TO A STATE OF NORMALCY FOLLOWING END OF BRUTAL SERIAL MURDERS_

* * *

 _Knock knock._

The door opened with a creak, and Mary Jumps peered out from the doorway. Standing in front of her was Nick Wilde, hands clasped around a small neatly-packaged box. When he extended it to her, the bewildered bunny opened it slowly, pulling from it a large old knife.

Tears filled her eyes. "Thank you," she whispered, a sad smile taking over her features. Then she put the knife reverently back in the box and insisted he stay for dinner.

So he did.

* * *

"Oh! Oh! My children are here! Hurry up!"

Ella Wilde's new nurse quickly finished her duties before leaving the old vixen with a smile. She nodded courteously to Nick and Judy, who responded in kind.

"Hey there, Mom." Nick wrapped her up in a hug, reveling in the warmth of her embrace. Judy stepped in next, diving into Ella's arms with a smile.

"Ella, are you sure you won't come with us?" asked Judy. "You know you're more than welcome."

"Pa! No, no, you two need a vacation," said Ella, before winking obviously at Nick, who rolled his eyes. "Just the two of you, romantic business and whatnot." Judy giggled, flushing a little.

"Well, we'll bring you back lots of souvenirs," the bunny told her sincerely.

"And we'll call you," agreed Nick, smiling.

"Pictures," joined in Ella Wilde. "All the pictures! I need them! And maybe a new fridge magnet. I love magnets from places." Ella relaxed and took both of their hands in her own, squeezing the fox and rabbit paws gently.

"I love you both so much," she told them. "And you two are going to have a wonderful time." The trio sat together for a long moment, simply enjoying one another's company. Then Ella shoo'ed them away.

"You're going to miss your train. Go! Go!"

Laughing, Judy waved good-bye to Ella and took Nick's hand as they left the retirement community. Minutes later, they handed in their luggage and boarded the train that would take them to the airport. Finding a seat near the window, Nick and Judy took their seats and then curled close to one another, with Judy tucked under Nick's arm.

The train started with a jolt, pulling them along the streets of Zootopia.

"Hey, Nick?"

The fox looked down at the lavender eyes peering up at him, and just as it always did, the knot in his chest loosened just a little more at the sight of her. "Yeah?"

Judy smiled a small but hopeful smile. "We're okay, right? We're going to be okay?"

Breathing in deeply, Nick took a moment to answer. Then he swept a hand over her ears, green eyes flickering over her face. "You bet your brilliant tail we are."

Judy's smile grew, and she tucked into his arm once more. Nick curled her close, his hand at her elbow.

When he finally looked away from her and across the train, he spotted a male lion teen watching them very closely. Nick sighed inwardly and looked away. He'd had enough of getting stared at.

But when he looked away, he realized he could still see the lion teen in the reflection of the window. As he watched, the lion turned and nudged a pretty female gazelle teen next to him. She looked up from her phone, and the lion pointed at Nick and Judy. When the gazelle spotted them, her eyes widened and she looked back to the lion, lips parted in surprise.

The lion teen hesitated, eyes lowering for a moment. Then he bit his lip and lifted a hand, turning it over and offering it to her.

The gazelle looked fearful for a moment, glancing around the train and then back to the lion, who continued to hold out his hand. Then, after a long pause, she reached forward and slipped her hand into his, lacing their fingers together.

The effect was immediate; both teens smiled, tucked their heads shyly and scooted just a little closer. Even when they turned back to their respective phones, their hands remained joined.

Nick's eyes flickered from the reflection to the teen pair, and his lips quirked.

 _Oh, yeah,_ he thought, relaxing against his seat. _We're fine._

* * *

Author's Note: Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who reviewed, favorited, and read! It was a wonderful ride. Stay on the lookout for an epilogue containing Vacation Shenanigans from Nick and Judy!

Goodbye!


	15. Epilogue

Author's Note: Wow, I am so blown away by the responses from the last chapter! Thank you SO SO much for every single response, no matter the length or the content. The fact that you were willing to take the time to let me know how the story made you feel is amazing.

I did add a few very short scenes to the last chapter, so if you read it immediately after I posted it, I encourage you to re-read!

Also, I'm pretty sure the creators mentioned that birds and reptiles are not part of the "speaking animal" world, but you'll just have to extend your imagination here with me. For Nick and Judy's sake. THEY DESERVE THIS VACATION, OKAY.

Here, have a fairly short fluff time of vacation. Enjoy!

* * *

"Nick, look!"

The runway from the plane was framed with ordinary metal grey walls, and the carpet beneath their feet was nothing special – faded, rolling up on the corners and bearing a peculiar pattern that made Nick dizzy to look at.

However, as soon as they shuffled a few more feet ahead and cleared the sterile runway, Nick and Judy looked up to find themselves completely enveloped by sunshine, courtesy of the tall windows lining a corridor surrounded by tall trees like the ones in Sahara Square, and just as much sand to boot.

Only here, just beyond the strip of windows where Judy pressed, delighted, was a seemingly endless stretch of crystal blue water with matching sky, sparse clouds just as white and fluffy as a sheep's wool, and a whole crew of uniformed animals waiting for the plane's arrival.

"Welcome," beamed a toucan as she placed colorful leis around both of their necks, "to Aquai'i!"

* * *

"This place is so cool, Nick! Read this brochure!"

While Judy was busy spinning in a circle to see everything, reading her map and talking a million miles an hour all at the same time, Nick was standing near a patch of overly large, unfamiliar foliage that looked straight out of the Cretaceous Period, all the while nervously eyeing a massive gorge right next to them.

"Nick, do you see that? Look, that's a real volcano!" chimed in Judy excitedly, before turning to gasp dramatically in his direction, brochure clutched to her chest. "Do you think it'll explode?"

Nick eyed the rickety wooden bridge over the gorge. "There is no way in hell I am crossing this rickety-ass bridge."

 _BOOM_.

The massive mountain next to them trembled violently, puffing smoke in the air, and both small mammals responded by screaming, dropping all their things and hauling tail across a very rickety bridge.

* * *

"Ooh, Nick! Look! Name keychains! And all the names have little flowers on them!"

Nick smirked. "Bet you can't find Laverne on there."

Judy rushed to the stand and eyed the colorful selections excitedly. "I should get these for my brothers and sisters!" she told him, before quickly reaching up and reciting aloud, "Okay, let's see - Jimmy, Jerry, Jenna, Jessa, Jacob, Julian, Jura, James, Jenny – "

 _~Two Hours Later~_

"Nick, I'm done!" Judy emerged from the checkout line with two large bags heavy with merchandise. When she didn't immediately spot Nick, another customer pointed to the fox nearby, who sleeping on a sofa.

" _Zzzzz,"_ was his only response.

* * *

"Try it!"

"Is it carrot?"

"No, of course not!"

"You swear?"

A giggle. Her very best attempt to keep a straight face. "Uhhhmm…"

"Fine, I'll try it."

"Heheh…"

"…"

"…"

"… it was carrot."

* * *

"So, how do I look?" asked Judy, swishing her hips in the grass skirt, coconut bra firmly in place. From behind the screen where she'd changed, Nick's voice called out.

"Gorgeous!" he said, before hopping out in an identical ensemble, coconut bra and all. "But _not_ as gorgeous as me!"

Judy's hysterical laughter dropped her straight to the floor.

* * *

"I wonder where our surf instructor is," said Judy thoughtfully, kicking her legs in the water on either side of her floating surfboard.

"No idea," said Nick, looking around, "but all of this open water is totally freaking me out."

"HEY GUYS!" greeted a massive set of jaws with equally large teeth, all of which burst forth in the water right between Judy and Nick, the latter of whom screamed at the top of his lungs, fell into the water and scratched up his board like a crazed cat.

"MY NAME IS BILL," yelled the huge buff shark excitedly, "TODAY WE'RE GOING TO SURF AND HAVE A TOTALLY AWESOME TIME! AREYOUREADYALRIGHTLET'SDOTHIS!" And with that, he pushed off, creating a wave all of his own, and Judy clasped her hands excitedly before flopping onto her belly to paddle.

"Come on, Nick! Let's go!" she exclaimed.

Nick's response was a strangled gasp as he clawed his way back onto his surfboard, gargling something about _massive heart attacks._

* * *

"This has to be the most beautiful thing I've ever seen," remarked Judy thoughtfully, leaning on her elbows as they watched the sunset.

Nick looked over at her, and without taking his off his mate, he reclined fully against the sand and agreed most heartily.

* * *

The beach was quiet at night, and the small stretch in front of their rented bungalow was empty, save for Judy running along the shoreline against the star-speckled sky, delighted every time the water lapped at her ankles.

Nick appeared behind her and swept her off her feet, grinning to himself when Judy laughed happily, looping her arms around his neck. Both of the mammals calmed, slowing their movements until Nick gently lowered Judy to her feet again, though they remained close.

Tipping his head to hers, Nick caught her lips in a kiss. "I love you," he murmured against them, eyes closed.

Judy's lips quirked against his, and her hands moved up, pressing through his fur and traveling down the back of his neck to his bare back. "I love you, too," she replied softly, before pushing up on her tiptoes and pressing him to her. Nick caught her around her middle and pulled her impossibly close, mouth finding hers again.

Water continued to move close to them, pushing up the sandy banks and brushing at their toes. The sounds from the rest of the island were far away, and the only noises that reached the pair now were natural and soft. The moon sat large and regal against the shoreline, content in its spot just above an expanse of dark water that seemed to go on forever.

Nick's mind briefly flashed to the very first moment he met Judy – when she'd come to his rescue that day in the ice cream shop. The problem had been artificial, but her willingness to help had not, and perhaps it was even as early as that moment that she began to really affect him, because he remembered now how she had stayed on his mind that whole day.

His larger hand moved down her side, mostly bare, save for the swimsuit top that covered her. Lust was something he'd felt plenty of times, and he'd felt love a great deal, too. But the _desire_ for someone - which was so far removed from being singularly one of those things, but was in fact, a combination of so much more – _that_ was something entirely new to him.

It was frightening, but he wasn't afraid. Not anymore.

Judy's arms closed around him, and Nick tucked into the sensation until he pulled away just enough to say huskily, "Maybe we should get back to our bungalow."

Judy's lavender eyes flickered at the small, cozy structure, some twenty feet away. Her lips quirked again at a smile, and she drew Nick closer, one hand moving slowly, tenderly down the center of his chest, down to the top of his trunks.

"I think we're close enough," she whispered in reply, before tugging him down to the sand with her.

* * *

Author's Note: Thanks for hanging, guys!


End file.
